Earl Samuels, managing director of National Housing Trust.

The National Housing Trust (NHT) is moving ahead with the next phase of its Hellshire housing project ongoing for a decade and a half, and has tendered the civil engineering works on a scheme in which the housing agency is investing $826 million.

But the Earl Samuels-led NHT finds itself in the curious position of moving ahead with what it has labelled a 'third' phase, months before it begins construction on what was supposed to be phase two.

The $826 million covers construction and other costs linked to the project.

"You will note that development for the phases do not follow strict chronological order - though they did initially," said NHT senior communications coordinator, Karlene Morgan.

site-specific activity

"This is because site-specific activity might mean that one site starts before the other ... this is why phase three will start in March though two starts in June," she said.

The second phase was put on hold to fit into the National Water Commission's schedule to pipe water to the area, Morgan said.

Phase one of the Hellshire development was done back in 1993 as a collaboration between NHT and another state agency, the Urban Development Corporation - 75 units were placed on the market then.

Now NHT plans to deliver 123 homes to the market in 2011 under phase three, but has not disclosed the prices of the units.

The 48 units to be built under phase two will bring the combined developments to 246 homes.

The fourth phase comprising 200 serviced lots only, property on which purchasers can build their own homes, commences September 2010, but NHT has offered no completion date, nor how much would be invested in those projects.

"Phases two and four are still in the early design stage so full costs are not immediately available," Morgan said.

Construction

Construction of the homes under phase three is scheduled to start in March 2010 on 53 two-bedroom houses - what NHT refers to as detached unit - and 70 two-bedroom townhouses.

The scheme will be spread across 8.1 hectares or 20 acres of property, located about 10 kilometres from Portmore's town centre. The agency said the new development will be located north of Hellshire Park, comprising 85 duplex units that it placed on the market back in 2004 at a cost of just under $1.2 million each; and also north of Hellshire Glades, which was developed by UDC.

dionne.rose@gleanerjm.com