Grenada launches Project 500 in Dunfermline, aiming to provide affordable homes

Grenada: In a significant development, the Housing Authority of Grenada has officially launched Project 500 at its first location in Dunfermline and Anjou on Wednesday afternoon. This project promises affordable homes and new opportunities for the locals.

The launch ceremony gave an opportunity to engage and educate Grenadians on the project and how to obtain an affordable home. The first phase of the project includes the construction of 17 homes using advanced technologies and efficient building methods, with the location as a show site.

During the ceremony, Housing Minister Gloria Thomas also addressed the attendees, saying that Project 500 was born out of the need to address the housing requests on the island. 

She said that it is a government initiative to help to alleviate some of the challenges in housing and the approach is to revolutionize affordable housing in Grenada.

“We want to provide housing at low cost with climate-smart features, thus giving homeowners the opportunity to experience lower utility costs. Through Project 500, we wish to lift the standard of houses in Grenada by improving the housing stock,” said the Housing Minister. 

Project 500 will be implemented through four stages, starting off with phase one clearing of parcels of land, starting with Dunfermline and Anjou, Grenville Vale in Saint George and Dumfries in Carriacou.

The second phase is collaborating with private individuals and companies to develop housing sites with diverse financing and land provision models.

The third phase will see the purchasing of various land parcels to support a range of housing initiatives and the fourth and final phase, engaging private landowners to provide smaller land parcels for development, ensuring broader opportunities for home ownership.

Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Housing Authority of Grenada, Hugh Thomas, said that by January 2025, there will be at least 17 units of houses completed for sale.

“You will be able to go in and look at it yourself; from that, we will learn, and then we will multiply that on the other side of the road. Between now and January, you will see an excavator inside there clearing up and cutting the road and doing that work while the first phase is going on, and for the people who are in bushes, just after we clear up certain things with bushes, we will start there clearing up the road infrastructure also,” outlined the Chairman. 

She emphasised that her team is incredibly excited about the future of Project 500 and the opportunities that it will bring for the people of Grenada. According to her, the project is not about just constructing homes, but also about building communities. 

The project continues to move forward, with the next phases anticipated to roll out in the coming weeks.