DAWN BEACH--Housing Minister Christophe Emmanuel has acted as a broker between Curaçao-based Vidanova Pensions and Retirement Fund and a landowner in Dawn Beach to get what he calls a long overdue boost to the country’s affordable-homes sector. The gated community “Valley View Estate” will target first-time homebuyers.
The project will comprise 160 homes, with the finalisation set for the end of 2018. The first 50 homes to be built in Dawn Beach with funding from Vidanova are to become available by December 25.
The massive housing deal is about 70 per cent completed, with Emmanuel and advisors set to fly to Curaçao soon to further the project. The land to be purchased totals some 80,000 square metres.
Emmanuel told The Daily Herald he had invited Vidanova representatives to St. Maarten and put them together with the landowner. “I told them it was time they invested there. After all, they hold the pensions of [utilities company – Ed.] GEBE and [St. Maarten Telephone Group of Companies – Ed.] TelEm,” he said.
Vidanova will offer qualifying first-time homebuyers 100 per cent financing at an interest rate of some five per cent. The mortgage payments, covering the house and land, will range from US $850 to US $1,100 per month for the one- to two-bedroom homes, which will take form as duplexes and stand-alone houses.
Emmanuel announced the basic details of the project at the Council of Ministers press briefing on Wednesday. He said this project will make the dream of homeownership for many in St. Maarten a reality and will put a dent in St. Maarten Housing Foundation’s waiting list of some 1,600 people.
