Above: Kingston (CJ Photo)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Is downtown Kingston in the midst of a revival?

That’s the idea from Jamaica’s Prime Minister, Portia Simpson Miller.

Simpson Miller made the proclamation at a recent budget debate, along with the announcement that Kingston’s Oceana Hotel will soon be receiving around $8.7 million USD in planned improvements.

The changes at the property in the downtown area of Jamaica’s capital are slated for completion within the next 12 to 18 months.

They include a full renovation of the property’s 70,000-square-foot space, with the capacity to house between 400 and 500 people in “modern office space facilities.”

“The full roll out of the overall development, inclusive of the hotel operations, will also see additional investments being made in future phases,” Simpson Miller said. “Demolition work has already started on the ground floor of the Oceana building.”

The hotel was purchased last year by a Jamaican-Canadian consortium from the Urban Development Corporation for around $3.35 million.

That’s the latest in a series of projects on the way in the capital, most notably the 129-room Courtyard by Marriott hotel, which is slated to be opened in New Kingston by the summer, according to Simpson Miller.

“We are reviving Downtown Kingston,” Simpson Miller said.