Jamaica Producers Group (JP) is pulling out of New Kingston, where its corporate headquarters has resided for more than three decades, and will be setting up operations near the wharf on the Kingston waterfront.
The move, planned for October 1, follows the sale of its current headquarters, Producers House at 6 Oxford Road, nearly two years ago. The conglomerate had continued to operate from that base, under lease, although some areas of the company had been shifted to its complex at Retirement Road in the capital.
“I wanted all of our people to be in or around the locations where we operate,” said Jamaica Producers CEO Jeffrey Hall on Friday, noting that the logistics and food conglomerate is investing where it sees the best potential for growth.
Hall said JP and its port subsidiary, Kingston Wharves Limited, together operate some 80 acres of land in the city of Kingston.
CLEAR TREND
“Where we’re putting in our money is in the waterfront and midtown,” Hall said. “We see ourselves joining a number of good companies who’ve decided to participate in the development of the waterfront. For us, the logic is good and the trend is clear,” he added.
The new owner of the New Kingston building, JN Group, is expected to set up offices at Producers House, but the company said it could not comment on its plans before Monday.
Shipping Association of Jamaica Property Limited (SAJPL) signed an agreement with Jamaica Producers in August last year, under which SAJPL would build JP a new headquarters at its Newport West complex.
Jamaica Producers owns 20 per cent of SAJPL; Kingston Wharves owns 10 per cent of SAJPL; and Jamaica Producers owns 42 per cent of Kingston Wharves. In its last annual report, JP booked 30 per cent of SAJPL’s earnings.
As for the company’s Retirement Road operations, Hall said Jamaica Producers is about to invest $110 million on the build out of office space and refrigeration. It follows US$2 million of expenditure on a plant for the company’s rum cake business, Tortuga International, which relocated from Montego Bay to the Retirement complex.