Barbados Property For Sale
Faith Glasgow takes a winter break to view the property scene in
Barbados
Barbados is launching itself into the twenty-first century with
an enviable reputation - not only as a gorgeous coral island but
also as the long-standing haunt of the beautiful people. For decades,
the likes of the Cunards and the Guinnesses wintered discreetly
in elegant Bajan mansions on the west coast; the hefty costs of
getting and staying there were a most effective means of excluding
the masses.
Barbadps Property For Sale - Profile Of Barbados
Over recent years, however, the profile of Barbados’ propertied
visitors has changed. At the very top of the market, ‘new’
money has arrived in a big and increasingly brash way; at the same
time, new property developments have opened the way to a much broader
spectrum of wealth than ever before.
Indeed, the island is experiencing a construction boom the likes
of which it has never seen - and it shows no sign of abating over
the next two or three years. From its privileged position as the
Caribbean’s Monaco, playground of an international elite,
Barbados appears to be reinventing itself more along the lines of
Marbella, as the private houses get flasher and a growing (often
sports-oriented) monied, middle market establishes itself.
Barbados Property For Sale & The Western Prosperity
In part, the island’s boom reflects western prosperity
(it has always been a British stronghold in particular, and British
tourists accounted for 36 per cent of the 1998 long-stay trade). But
most of these buyers are no retirees: this is the face of the new
Barbados, fuelled by entrepreneurial, sporting and celebrity wealth.
They may be taking time out, but they need to stay in close touch
with their businesses. Barbados, strong on telecommunications and
with excellent air links around the world (including weekly Concorde
flights from London and New York), outshines its less developed Caribbean
neighbours as a sophisticated holiday base. Unsurprisingly then,
the island is no bargain basement when it comes to property. For
most holidaymakers, the main point of a Caribbean holiday home (whether
owned or rented) is proximity to the sea and the sand; but land
on the famous west coast, where the calmest waters, most perfect
beaches and grandest houses are, comes at a huge premium - if you
can obtain it at all. Increasingly, buyers are pushed inland from
the west coast, to the old plantation houses and the new sporting
developments on high ground with sea views and breezes.
Barbados Property For Sale - Slice Of Paradise
So how much do you need to be able to afford a slice of paradise?
That depends very much on how far you are prepared to compromise.
Cove Spring House, in the ultra-smart parish of St James, is the most
expensive house currently for sale on the island (through Sotheby’s).
Newly built and absurdly large, it is priced at US$17.5 million -
but it has languished on the market for over a year.
Even if you don’t go for such ostentation - and it seems out
of place in Barbados, where so much of daily life takes place in the
open air that acres of indoor living space seems simply redundant
- you can expect to pay several million dollars for most property
on the west coast. If you happen across anything for sale, that is.
Which makes the new development at gorgeous Mullins Bay a particularly
interesting proposition. It’s taking place on one of the last
two pieces of virgin land on the coast (to put Barbados’s
real estate boom into perspective, this six-acre site was bought
15 years ago for US$1 million; the other, a 2.5-acre beachfront
site nearby, is now on the market for US$8 million).
Barbados Property For Sale & The Joint Venture
The development is a joint venture between architect Peter Instone
and Yorkshire multi-millionaire Barry Rubery. Instone has been heavily
influenced by the beautiful Bajan houses of the stage designer Oliver
Messel, which make much strategic use of views, natural stone and
wood, and the interface between indoors and outdoors, to create a
cool, calm Caribbean atmosphere. “The emphasis at Mullins Bay
is on open space and large gardens,” he says. “We had
planning consent for 54 houses but we’ve reduced that to just
21 in order to give them the extra space they need.” The
prices, of course, reflect the luxury of such space: the largest
house, a five-bedroom Great House right on the beach, will cost
around US$5 million, while smaller plantation-style houses with
pools are priced from US$2.9 to US$3.5 million. There will also
be a number of three-bedroom town houses costing from US$900,000.
One big advantage of a development like this over an individual
home is the security aspect - with 24-hour attendance and gates,
it’s much easier to lock up and leave your home for months
at a time. Another attraction is the letting and management service,
to be run by Hamptons International (which is also the estate agent
handling sales). Smart three- to five-bedroom beachfront houses
on the west coast command staggering rents of between US$3,000 and
US$5,000 per day during the high season - so even a ten-week rental
season will bring in a valuable rental income.
Barbados Property For Sale - International Market
Apart from Mullins Bay, there are several other substantial
schemes slanted towards the international market currently under way
on the island. Further up the west coast, the Bajan-funded Port St
Charles project has involved the transformation of a former cow pasture
into Barbados’s only marina, now teeming with marine life, including
turtles. Two out of five phases of the development are finished,
and phases three and four are now being built and sold. It’s
a mix of one, two and three-bedroom townhouses and apartments on
the waterfront, with a handy water taxi to ferry residents around;
but the big selling point for the many sailing and watersports enthusiasts
who flock to Barbados is that each property comes with its own berth
inclusive in the price.
“In fact, around half the buyers had never owned a boat before
they bought into Port St Charles - they were buying to be on the
water on this glamorous coastline, and in a secure environment,”
explains Barbados selling agent, Harry Manning. But, he adds, many
have since developed a taste for messing about on the water. And
despite the ever-present construction work going on, it’s
certainly a pleasant place to do exactly that.
Barbados property For Sale - Affordable Level
Prices start at a distinctly more affordable level than at Mullins
Bay - reflecting the more functional scale of many of the units. Thus,
one bedroom apartments in phase three are priced at US$450,000-US$550,000,
while three bedroom properties in phase four cost around US$1 million.
But you could spend a great deal more: there are several penthouses
at around US$2.2 million, while phase five consists of larger beachfront
villas priced at US$3-8 million. Harry Manning estimates there are
another three years of building still to go; about half of the 120
units have been built so far. On the rising ground behind the coast,
meanwhile, stands the Royal Westmoreland golfing development, the
first ‘international residential community’ project
to come to Barbados. In the five years of its existence, the 500-acre
Royal Westmoreland has attracted the likes of Ian Woosnam, Virginia
Wade and Mike Gatting as buyers. Prices for a two/three bedroom
club villa start from around US$800,000, but the grandest bespoke
mansions on the estate are worth up to US$8 million. For that sort
of money you have access to the 18 hole course designed by Robert
Trent Jones Jr, and a large number of fellow Brits with whom to
drink in the club house. Not to mention the chance to make substantial
sums by trading up - one resident has made over £1 million
through a string of shrewd moves.
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