One of them is Jamaica’s first residential building designed for short-stay market

Durrant Pate/Contributor

Norbrook Land Realty is announcing that two of its oceanfront resort residence communities are now open to the market for sale.

They are Banbou Cove at Mammee Bay, which returns to sale following a 14-month approvals process for an expanded scheme and Zanari at Drax Hall, completed in partnership with Jamcae Limited, Jamaica’s leading short-stay rental management company. 

Together, the two communities bring 170 resort residences and approximately 380 bedrooms to the Ocho Rios corridor, creating two distinct opportunities for buyers to own a second home on Jamaica’s North Coast while participating in the island’s tourism economy. Banbou Cove appeals to buyers seeking a private beachfront resort experience: a fully furnished villa or apartment in a gated community with generous amenities, direct beach access and the feel of an exclusive coastal retreat. 

Zanari offers a different expression of luxury, smaller, more efficient residences that create a more accessible entry point, without compromising on design, finishes or experience. Its high-end condominiums, exceptional shared spaces and resort-style amenities are being designed to set a new benchmark for this type of residential offering in Jamaica, while also serving the short-stay market and helping owners earn when they are away. 

Details of Banbou Cove community

Set on 16.43 acres of beachfront land at Mammee Bay Estate, Banbou Cove is a private, gated community of 68 resort residences designed to feel less like a conventional development and more like a private resort that owners can genuinely call their own. On its initial release, more than three-quarters of the inventory then available was taken within two weeks. 

That response led Norbrook to revisit the original scheme and expand both the number of residences and the amenity offering. The revised design required new approvals, which took 14 months. Those approvals have now been secured, and the community is scheduled to break ground in two months for delivery in 2028. 

Residents will share a private white-sand beach, a clubhouse and restaurant, three swimming pools with swim-up bars, tennis courts, a fitness centre and rooftop entertainment areas. Every residence will be delivered fully furnished, and villas will include a golf cart. A portion of the community remains reserved from the original release. 

Executive Chairman of Norbrook Realty, Khary Robinson, sought to explain the reason for the expansion, noting, “We could have built the original scheme on the original timetable. We chose the harder path because the response told us the market wanted more, and the site could carry it. What we are delivering now is a more complete resort community and, ultimately, a better experience for the people who will call it their second home.”

Zanari: luxury, designed more efficiently 

During the approvals period for Banbou Cove, Norbrook partnered with Sade Callaghan Palmer and Kamar Palmer, founders of Jamcae Limited to design, develop and launch a second luxury resort residence community. 

Zanari, located at Drax Hall, comprises 102 residences made up predominantly of two-bedroom condominiums and is the first residential building in Jamaica conceived from inception around both the short-stay guest and the owner who lets to them. The two-bedroom format is deliberate, as Zanari was developed to create a more accessible entry point not by stepping down the product but by designing smaller, more efficient residences around the configuration the short-stay market absorbs most consistently. 

The result is a high-end offering with sophisticated finishes, carefully considered interiors and building amenities intended to be unparalleled for a residential development of its kind in Jamaica. Guest arrival, storage, servicing routes, key management, cleaning turnaround and housekeeping flow are all planned into the building rather than retrofitted after the fact. 

Amenities will include a rooftop pool and an extensive resort-style shared offering, creating an experience intended to feel every bit as considered and luxurious as the residences themselves. 

Homes will be delivered turnkey and can enter a professionally managed rental programme from day one, giving buyers a more efficient route into luxury resort ownership without sacrificing quality, finish or experience. 

For Sade Callaghan Palmer, Co-founder, Jamcae, “most people who buy a second home in Jamaica buy a cost. It sits empty eleven months of the year, and they pay to keep it that way. Zanari was designed so the opposite is true, you arrive when you want it, and the rest of the year it is a working asset run by people who do this for a living.”

Earning potential for homeowners

Both communities are built around the same core idea: a resort residence is owned privately but operated collectively, one management company, one service standard and one distribution platform across the community. Owners use their residence when they choose and place it in the managed programme when they do not. 

Given that these homes are organised short-stay communities rather than scattered individual homes, the residences can reach travellers through both online travel agencies, where guests search for hotels and resorts, and platforms such as Airbnb and VRBO, where guests search for an entire home. Management handles booking, pricing, guest communication, housekeeping and maintenance, allowing the property to earn without becoming a job for the owner, and to earn in United States dollars. 

 This is what Norbrook means by broadening access to the income-generating second home. For many buyers, participating in Jamaica’s tourism economy has meant either a hotel-scale investment or a private villa that sits empty for much of the year. A professionally managed resort residence offers a middle ground: a property that owners can enjoy for themselves and also position to produce returns.

Delivering third resort community, Bohio 

Norbrook is also concurrently delivering Bohio, a bespoke 14-villa beachfront development at Mammee Bay. Central to the design and identity of the wider portfolio is Norbrook’s partnership with GW Architects, which works closely with the development team to shape the architecture, character and overall resort-residence experience across the communities. 

Supporting this architectural vision is a broader technical team that includes MSR Engineers, Satyn Consultants for mechanical, electrical and plumbing services, and Shardon Haye of CPM Consultants as quantity surveyor. 

Together, Banbou Cove and Zanari represent an investment of more than US$110 million and will add 170 resort residences and approximately 380 bedrooms to the Ocho Rios corridor at a time when Jamaica’s tourism sector continues to restore room stock following Hurricane Melissa. 

Banbou Cove accounts for 176 bedrooms across its villas and apartments, while Zanari will contribute approximately 204 bedrooms. The communities are also expected to create meaningful permanent employment, recruited principally from St. Ann and neighbouring parishes.