WHEN one peruses the newspaper business columns, one sees very few Albouystown properties are offered for sale. This is because one or two property developers are quietly buying up any properties that may come on the market. Still, more importantly, property owners realise that real estate prices are increasing, and there is no need to sell in a hurry. This trend has been confirmed recently by Vice-President, Dr Jagdeo, when at the opening of Independence Boulevard in Albouystown, he advised that property owners along the street should not precipitately sell off their properties since their values would be increasing; one important reason being that the Boulevard would soon be developing into a business centre such as Regent Street.

Albouystown today has the reputation of being the slum area of the city. This has not always been so. Until the 1960s it was regarded as a clean suburban village with owners living on their properties and it had the largest Indian, Portuguese and Chinese settlements in the city. In the 1960s, there were racio-political riots and the Portuguese and Chinese populations emigrated to North America, while Indians moved to other parts of the city with smaller numbers also emigrating. “Creoles,” mainly from the East Coast, then moved into the ward, and the absentee owners collected little rent and neglected their properties, which deteriorated into slummy conditions.

Albouystown has embarked upon a revolutionary renaissance in the last two or three years. The state has invested $2 billion in infrastructural development: the streets have all been renewed, including the centrepiece Independence Boulevard; the drainage has been fully rectified, and there is no more flooding; the lighting of the ward has greatly improved; garbage collection is regular; violent crime has almost disappeared, and several owners and stable tenants are gradually beginning to move back into the ward. Houses are being repaired and repainted, and the older shops appear to be doing more business. Indeed, a few imaginative young businessmen and women have even opened new shops.

The main attractiveness of the ward is its centrality. It is within walking distance of the Law Courts, the markets and the main shopping areas, and within easy reach of the main government administrative ministries and offices. It is on its way to the Cheddi Jagan Airport and the Ogle Airport. Further, it is quite close to the on-shore developments which are being created to service the oil industry, in particular those on the East Bank of Demerara and West Coast of Demerara, and this closeness is attracting workers to contemplate moving into the area once new flats are built, or the older houses are refurbished and made more comfortable in Albouystown. One great attraction would be the cheaper rents.

Albouystown is on the threshold of the most fundamental developments of the wards of the city and the imaginative investor who manages to purchase real estate there would certainly profit from the increased property values which the oil economy brings.