The country’s first block of townhouses, with spacious three-storey apartments in a gated community, is about to be opened with 70 per cent of occupancy accounted for, Executive Director of Gafsons Group of Companies Sattaur Gafoor said.
The townhouses, built at Cummings Lodge, Greater Georgetown, at a cost of “hundreds of millions of dollars,” with substantial funding from Republic Bank, “which has been extremely helpful and understanding” have targeted the diplomatic and the business executive community, Gafoor told the Stabroek News during an interview at his Houston office recently.
The townhouses, built on two acres of land in three conjoining blocks or wings (western, northern and eastern) are intended to meet a demand for “more luxurious facilities” for rental in Georgetown and its environs. In the middle is space for two benabs, one of which is currently under construction, and a fountain. Outside each apartment, there is also space for small gardens.
There would be no grand opening for the facility, but a religious ceremony to bless it and formally declare it open in another few days. Meantime, a number of workers are putting finishing touches, such as running electrical cables to the block of buildings and sprucing up the environment.
Gafoor, who pioneered the construction of the facility, said that plans were in the pipeline for the construction of lawn tennis and squash courts, a swimming pool and a club house. If the current project is successful, he said that Gafoors could construct another 28 townhouses. There is available land adjoining the lands on which the apartments are built for other development.
The townhouses were built in such a way to cater primarily for people who want to live in an environment which guarantees some degree of safety.
He said that he took up the challenge to build the townhouses on a suggestion from former US ambassador to Guyana, Roland Bullen. He also considered the need to provide quality, luxurious and secure accommodation for people who are non-residents as well as those living here with some degree of permanence. Caricom Secretariat staff have also expressed an interest in the facility.
US$2,800 per month
The attractive townhouses, which feature windows with reflecting glass, are being rented initially at a cost of some US$2,800 per month and would be sold eventually.
The 28 air-conditioned apartments each contain a kitchen, dining room, reception/living room, storage compartment, washroom and laundry room on the ground floor; two self-contained bedrooms on the middle floor; and two more on the top floor, including a master bedroom. They all have a number of built-in cupboards and closets.
Two of the 28 apartments found at the corners, where the eastern and western wings join the northern wing, are larger than the other 26 apartments.
All the flats have patios at the back and verandahs on the middle and tops flats, with the majority of the patios at the rear of the building looking out to the Atlantic Ocean. There is parking space for two cars for each apartment.
The bonds clerk, Mohamed Naseer, who acted as guide for the tour was keen to point out that provision had also been made for persons using wheelchairs to easily access the apartments.
During an interview in 2006 when the foundation of the project was being laid, Gafoor had said that if it were possible he might have made the apartments available for use during Cricket World Cup 2007.
However, he said that the apartments could not be completed in time because of the design of the building and the kind of accessories which were needed for completion. Many of the accessories, which included sanitary ware, fittings and mirrors, were imported from the USA or England.
The ground floors are tiled, which make them easy for cleaning, and hardwoods, mainly greenheart, were used in the construction of the floors and walls of the upper floors. “Guyana’s natural woods were used for beauty and to give a feeling of warmth and comfort,” he said.
To guard against flooding the land was elevated and the ground floor built five feet off the ground.
The building contractor was Joseph Mekdeci of American Construction Com-pany, whom he described as a very competent builder. The architect was from the United Kingdom and the civil engineer on the ground was David Klautky.
Gafoor said that only Guyanese labour was used in the construction of the apartments, a testimony to the skills that are still available in the industry locally. Actual construction began in September 2007 but it was often affected by the rains.
