The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

DEVELOPERS of the 100-acre Lyford Hills community will this week submit plans for a six-unit townhouse complex that will be totally solar powered, while aiming to save $5,000-$6,000 per month in energy costs by running all community facilities off renewable energy.

Emphasising that Lyford Hills wanted to “set the example” when it came to being a green, sustainable community, Tennyson Wells, its principal developer, told Tribune Business it had taken “almost a year” to obtain from the Bahamas Electricity Corporation (BEC) the cost for tying-in the solar-powered townhouses to its power grid.

Explaining that the BEC tie-in did not mean the townhouses would be taking its power supply, Mr Wells said: “We are in the process of doing a little six-unit townhouse complex that will be totally solar powered.

“My son’s done the architects’ drawings and said he was going to put them in [for government approval] last week or, at latest, Monday [today]. My son’s designing it, building it, and we’ve been trying for almost a year to get the tie-in fee from BEC. They were saying we’ll get it this week.”

Under the existing Electricity Act, while homes and businesses have to connect to BEC in all areas where its power supply is available, they do not necessarily have to take it, thus creating an opening for renewable energy.

“We want to be a green community, and want to set the example,” Mr Wells said. “It makes sense to put in solar. It’s a little bit more expensive upfront, but that’s what we’re going to do.”

The six solar-powered townhomes will be priced in the $495,000 range, he added, and will be divided into two three-bed and four two-bed offerings. The three-bed units will be around 2,400 square feet, and the two-beds close to 1,650 square feet.

Apart from the townhomes, Mr Wells said all public buildings at Lyford Hills - the clubhouse and gatehouse - plus the street lighting would be run off solar power.

The gatehouse had been running off solar power since October 2011, and the former Cabinet Minister and MP added: “They tell me it’ll pay for itself in three-four years. You’d probably be looking at a $500-$600 bill per month to run the A/C and water pump without it. I paid about $13,000 to put it in, and even if it pays for itself in five years it will be worth it.”

And, with the 15,000 square foot clubhouse also set to employ solar power, Mr Wells said he believed the ‘green energy’ focus would save Lyford Hills around $5,000-$6,000 in monthly energy costs.

“Anything we do and build at Lyford Hills, the clubhouse and associated buildings, will be solar,” Mr Wells reiterated. “A couple of the other developers have bought lots in there, and I believe all of them will put in solar, because we want to be a green community.”

Noting that he was paying more than $1,000 per month in electricity costs for his own home, Mr Wells said the increasingly prohibitive price of conventional power was set to drive more persons towards renewable energy.

“In the long-term, when young people build a house they will be way better off,” he added. “Most people will have to make that judgment as to whether they put it in their place and incur the cost upfront, then make a return at the back-end. But I believe, particularly the young professionals who will buy land in there, they will see the wisdom of doing it.”

As for Lyford Hills, Mr Wells said the developers were concentrating on building the four-five acre picnic and recreational area, plus putting in fill for the clubhouse. They had also switched their attention from phase two to phase three, with the latter now having 45 per cent of its base roads and 30 per cent of the underground waterworks complete.

With the 126 lots in Lyford Hills’s phase one between 65-70 per cent sold, Mr Wells added: ‘We had approval to sell in phase two, but we’re going to switch approval from phase two to phase three, which we’re now trying to get sorted out.”

He conceded, though, that the sales pace at Lyford Hills was “very slow”. “We’ve started off in-house financing, and made a couple of sales in that regard, and made a couple of sales from the banks, but it’s been very slow this year compared to what it was last year,” Mr Wells said.

“If people were wise, they would buy now. A year ago, we discounted our prices by about 30 per cent. We just broke even with that, and only now are starting to put them back up. I believe that was a mistake, and that next year will be better. We’re getting a lot of calls, but sales are not materialising because the banks are not offering financing.”