Major housing development planned in Yona

by Ken Quintanilla

Guam - A major housing development in Yona is set to go before the Guam Land Use Commission next week seeking a zone change and variance for what is aimed to build thousands of residential units along with a commercial town center.

Over the next two decades, a major housing development consisting of approximately 5,000 homes will be built next to the Leo Palace Resort. The project is appropriately named "Sigua Highlands", as it includes part of the Sigua and Lonfit River valleys. "The project includes approximately 5,000 residential dwelling units to be built over 20 years, who knows?" said Richard Jortberg.

And with so many proposed housing developments, Jortberg, the project manager, told KUAM News in a phone interview from Colorado that the project owner, Texas A&M Foundation, also intends to build a town center for community activity and commerce. "So the town center would be the focal point of the project 0303 meaning that would be where people would drive to for restaurants, different normal retail uses would be need that would be generated with 5,000 housing units."

The project's web site states the property is estimated at over 1,100 acres. Documents before the GLUC show the zone change request from rural to a planned development district for the town center would include two 25-story condominiums structures, medium cost and medium to high cost housing, a pavilion and plaza, parks and esplanade, an expanse of open space and a 35-acre site to be donated for a school and a park. Additionally, two separate zone change requests from rural to a multi-family dwelling include a mix of housing categories to include affordable housing for the elderly.

So how much is the project going to cost? Jortberg says the Texas A&M Foundation never put a definitive price tag as several components of the project are not happening all at once and are based on demand. "It's very difficult to estimate that because under the current circumstances in today's dollars, it's in excess of a billion dollars, for sure" he said.

Ultimately Jortberg says Sigua Highlands will be developed in response to local market demands over the long term. "I think the important thing and the message that this project should send is that when you're doing things of big scale you want it to be well thought out and well planned but you don't want to over-commit resources," he stated.

Retired construction engineer and real estate developer Dwight Look lived on Guam for nearly 40 years. He attended Texas A&M University and willed the approximately 1,100-acre parcel to the institution. In 2008 the school attempted to put the property on the market, asking for $25 million. Although there were interested companies, the property was never sold leaving the school to work on this new development project.

Jortberg will be on island next week to address the GLUC when it meets on Thursday at 1:30pm at the ITC Building in Tamuning.