John Myers Jr., Business Reporter

The revived Brittany Manor development has missed its mid-year deadline, which developer Christopher Woods has linked to sustained rains and fallout from the storm season.

Woods last said he had expected to deliver the 50 two-bedroom middle-income units in June of this year.

But last week, he said the timetable had been derailed by poor weather conditions in past weeks, and that Hurricane Dean in August had forced the construction crew to halt work on the roads and sewage system - the main outstanding infrastructure items left to be put in.

"For the past seven months," said the developer, "we have had rain 80 per cent of the days."

The delay was initially reported to Sunday Business by a purchaser of one of the units who said he was to have got possession of the keys in May, but was still waiting.

Brittany Manor, formerly known as Watervale, has been a controversial project since its inception.

Woods acquired the property, covering some 4.5 acres, from the National Housing Development Corporation (NHDC) after the state agency abandoned plans in 1999 to develop an Operation PRIDE settlement there.

Cancelled after flooding

That project was cancelled after flooding problems developed, sparking the anger of its Havendale neighbours.

At that time, the houses were in an advanced state of completion, with only minor cosmetic work left to be done.

"For the past six to seven months, the main outstanding items are like the exterior work - paving of the roads, putting in sewage mains, a sewage plant and landscaping," said Woods.

"Ninety-five percent of all the units are complete inside ... but unless we get at least three days sunshine, I cannot pave the roads."

Wood said the sub-contractors have been paid to carry out the remaining infrastructure work on the complex and should start working as soon as the weather improved.

He has revised the completion date for handing over the units to the end of this month.

Sunday Business visited the site Wednesday to find crews working on the units.

The houses closer to the entrance were in an advanced state of readiness, with only minor electrical work, landscaping and cleaning left to be done.

The site supervisor said the weather had been the most favourable in weeks and that he and his crew would be working as quickly as possible in order to hand over the first 30 townhouses by month end.

Neatly pressed roads

The roads in the complex were clearly outlined and neatly pressed with marl, but the foreman said he needed several days of sunshine so that it could be paved with asphalt to ensure durability.

The units, which all have two bedrooms and two bathrooms, living/dining room, kitchen and helper's quarters, were originally placed on the market at $10 million, but that price has since risen to almost $13 million.

Woods said all the units had been sold.

"I need to get out of there more than anybody else, because I have over a 1,000 units to go and do elsewhere, so it is not to my benefit to not complete them," he said.

john.myers@gleanerjm.com