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Hamilton apartment block back on track

City living: an artist's impression from 2016 of the proposed Seven Park condominium development on Park Road, Hamilton (File photograph)

Plans for a luxury 52-unit condominium building in Hamilton are back on the table – 12 years after it was first proposed.

Gilbert Lopes, a developer and owner of GL Construction, said he was gauging interest in the apartment block, which would be built on Park Road next to one of his earlier developments, Ten, on Dundonald Street.

Mr Lopes said: “The market is showing more interest than it has been. The demand is there to get it built.”

Mr Lopes added: “The market dropped off in 2010/2011 and it is coming back now.

“People are investing back into Bermuda.”

The complex is proposed for a vacant site that was the location of Jack ‘n' Jill's toy store, a dive shop, and the Thistle Gallery in the H Davidson & Co building, which were closed and demolished in the late 2000s.

The plans also include a rooftop fitness room, a pool, terrace and bar and a ground floor lounge.

Mr Lopes said he would go ahead with the project this year if he secured presales of a minimum of 15 apartments.

He said: “I have got all the subcontractors ready to go, so now it’s about getting presales.

“There has been quite a bit of interest – I started advertising the units on Wednesday last week and it is looking good.

“I had 18 people who were interested – four have said we can go over the drawings to see the scale better.

“If I get 15 presales, construction will go ahead this year and the project will take 18 months.”

The Seven Park complex would be a combination of one-bedroom apartments ranging from 580 to 790 sq ft, two-bedroom apartments of 995 sq ft and office or retail space of 4,000 sq ft.

Prices range from $535,000 to $935,000 and parking spaces in a two-level underground car park are listed at $25,000 each.

Mr Lopes said if any of the apartments did not sell, they would be available to rent for between $3,500 and $6,000 a month.

He said he reactivated the development in 2016 to gauge the level of interest.

Apartment prices started at $485,000 – $90,000 less than the advertised cost in 2009.

Mr Lopes said the latest prices reflected the increase in building and labour costs.

A combination of an overactive property market and the economic downturn stopped the Seven Park project going ahead in 2009.

GL Construction was the general contractor for The Loren hotel in Tucker’s Town, which was completed in 2017.

The company has focused on renovations and general construction since then.

Mr Lopes also built Loughlands in Paget and the Grand Atlantic apartments in Warwick, now the Bermudiana Beach Resort.

A new website has been launched for the Seven Park development at https://www.se7enpark.bm/

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Published June 23, 2021 at 7:50 am (Updated June 23, 2021 at 6:11 am)

Hamilton apartment block back on track

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