JAMAICA REAL ESTATE NEWS  -  JAMAICAN NEWS - SALES


Sangsters Jamaica Real Estate

Home - Jamaica Real Estate News / Sales / Stories


HOME - NEWS

SALES

PROJECTS

FINANCE

TOURISM

ECONOMY

SERVICES

GENERAL

 

Jamaica News - Real Estate - Sales (April 28, 2004)
Hendricksons buy Island Life building
The Karl Hendrickson family has concluded negotiations for the acquisition of the Island Life Shopping Centre in New Kingston, one of the city's last remaining major real estate assets being held by Joslin Jamaica Ltd.

It is not clear what price the Hendricksons, who have emerged in the past few years among Jamaica's most acquisitive and dynamic entrepreneurs, paid for the 135,000 square-foot landmark building. Joslin Jamaica has been asking US$8 million.

Our sources say that Joslin Jamaica has called a meeting with the maintenance staff stationed at the complex for early next week, to discuss matters relating to the sale, and that some of the retail tenants at the complex have been served with notice to vacate.

The complex, located at 6 St Lucia Avenue, has numerous offices and retail outlets. It also houses a branch of RBTT Bank, and Palace Amusement's Island Cineplex - a single-screen cinema.

This factor, according to real estate experts, has been a concern to those potential purchasers who have in the past expressed interest in the asset.

The Island Life complex was conceived and built by Oliver Jones, the former CEO and major shareholder of Island Life Insurance Company, prior to the financial sector meltdown of the mid-1990s.

But the millions of dollars spent on the building later became a drag on the bottom line of the company, which like other insurance firms faced a liquidity crisis during the mid-1990s.

That crisis was precipitated by major shifts in government policies and the over-investment of several firms in real estate.

The building was taken over by the government, which took majority control in the company in exchange for a major cash infusion. Eventually the government sold its insurance portfolio to Life of Barbados.

Island Life was later merged with Life of Jamaica, but the building remained in the possession of the state which negotiated with Joslin Jamaica to have it sold on the government's behalf.

The Hendricksons - whose family member, Kevin Hendrickson was in 2001 nominated as a Business Observer Business Leader for his development and management of the family's Courtleigh Hotel, and Yummy Bakery - are Jamaica's third largest players in the hotel industry.

Their ownership of National Bakery, Holsum Bakery, and Yummy Bakery make them among Jamaica's most important players in that industry. The family also owns Caribbean Broilers, the island's second largest processors of chicken meat - after Jamaica Broilers. They own the Blue Mountain Inn restaurant in St Andrew and The Ruins in Ocho Rios.

 


Back to top

l Home - Real Estate News l Sales l Projects l Finance l Tourism l Economy l Services l General l
| Home - SANGSTERS REALTY |