The Government aims to lease the Agricultural Marketing Corporation (AMC) Export Complex at 188 Spanish Town Road, Kingston, to investors amid a demand in warehousing property.
It is the latest attempt to optimise the use of the facility, but the first under the new head of the Development Bank of Jamaica (DBJ). Expressions of interest are due by September 30.
The complex “presents a rare opportunity for an investor, entity or consortium to rehabilitate, operate and maintain a strategically important national asset, one that offers both strong commercial upside and meaningful developmental impact, under a long-term lease arrangement”, DBJ Managing Director Dr David Lowe told the Financial Gleaner in a recent interview.
The Government built the complex in the 1960s to store, package and move farm produce across Jamaica. It covers 9.58 acres and holds roughly 177,000 square feet of built space, including cold storage, packaging houses and warehouses.
A newspaper advertisement last month invited private investors to rehabilitate, operate and maintain the complex under a long-term lease, with the DBJ and the Agro-Investment Corporation acting as agents for the Government. The advertisement described the property as “well-positioned within Kingston’s logistics corridor with convenient access to the Kingston Wharf, major transportation networks and key markets”.
Dr Lowe said the complex already carries critical infrastructure, established market recognition and direct connectivity to local and export supply chains. The land and existing buildings give investors “an immediate platform for redevelopment and repositioning, without the challenges associated with developing a greenfield site from scratch”, he said.
He pointed to a dual value proposition. “From a commercial perspective, the asset offers significant potential for rehabilitation, modernisation and mixed-use redevelopment, creating multiple revenue streams and the opportunity to generate sustainable long-term returns over the term of the lease. From a strategic perspective, the investment supports Jamaica’s agricultural sector by strengthening the infrastructure required for storage, packaging, processing and export activities,” he said.
The DBJ will act as the transaction manager for the divestment. In general, it acts on behalf of Government in privatisations and public-private partnerships. Dr Lowe confirmed that the complex will move to mixed use, while retaining its primary mandate as an agricultural hub.
Agro-Investment Corporation CEO Vivion Scully said his agency will continue operating from the site.
“The facility is currently occupied by established tenants. Agro-Invest has been in dialogue with tenants throughout the process, and investors should be committed to using reasonable efforts to secure the best outcome for tenants in the process,” Scully said.
The offer lands as property demand tilts decisively towards logistics. The global services sector shed 20,000 jobs over the past year, and the Financial Gleaner reported recently that more than 245,000 square feet of office space between Kingston and Montego Bay sits vacant, an unusually high inventory. At least one Kingston commercial plaza, built mainly for retail, has gone unsold for months as shoppers move online for clothing, footwear, small electronics and housewares.
Industry insiders told the Financial Gleaner a year ago that demand was turning from commercial shop rentals to warehousing in the capital. Developers have since followed. Proven Properties has a warehouse joint venture under construction near the Port of Kingston, and Sygnus Real Estate Finance is among the institutional investors financing industrial parks and serviced lots.
The Government weighed selling or privatising the complex around 2019 and again in 2022, drawing mixed reactions from agricultural groups concerned about local farming. Minister of Agriculture Floyd Green closed off that question in April 2024. “In the terms of reference, we said that the AMC must remain in agriculture. So I want to remove any thought that the AMC will be taken out of agriculture and will be used for another purpose. That will not happen,” the minister told the Jamaica Information Service.
The complex has fallen into disrepair and sits underutilised, though it still hosts direct-to-consumer farmers’ markets and remains a target asset for agro-processing and export growth.
Commercial and industrial warehouse space in Kingston typically rents for between US$1.00 and US$2.50 per square foot per month, depending on whether the space is raw, upgraded or includes an office component.
luke.douglas@gleanerjm.com
