It’s a go for proposed Plumeria Estates

The road has been paved for the construction of a new housing project similar to Tottotville subdivision in Koblerville.

The Marianas Public Lands Authority on Friday designated 128 Koblerville lots to the Northern Marianas Housing Corp. The quitclaim deeds for the properties serve as proof of NMHC’s legal ownership of the properties. NMHC will use them as collateral when negotiating with banks to finance the mortgages of the homes.

MPLA chair Ana Demapan-Castro, however, attached one condition to the approval: that NMHC will prioritize all prospective first-time homeowners who have existing loan applications to purchase homes at the new subdivision.

The housing project, called “Plumeria Estates,” will be located near Tottotville Subdivision in Koblerville. NMHC said a total of 128 houses will be available for sale, consisting of two-, three-, and four-bedroom units.

NMHC is now accepting loan applications from eligible residents.

Earlier, Gov. Juan N. Babauta reported that the Housing Task Force is now reviewing bid proposals from prospective developers for the construction of houses for the Plumeria Estates.

The winning developer will finance the construction of the housing project. The mortgages of the completed homes, in turn, will be used to reimburse the developer for the costs of building.

Initially, the Housing Task Force made plans to build two homestead subdivisions similar to Tottotville. Based on the earlier plan, 78 houses would be built in Koblerville and 74 more on Capitol Hill.

The task force, however, decided to concentrate the housing development in Koblerville, following a site inspection of both areas. The group found that the rugged topography of the Capitol Hill homestead lots made the area too costly for the project.

Further, the task force decided to increase the number of homestead lots in Koblerville “to make the housing development project more attractive to prospective developers,” Babauta said.

Out of the 228 lots in the proposed development area next to Tottotville, only 78 homestead lots have met the permit requirements. But the increase in number of lots available for the Plumeria Estates project was made possible after the Division of Fish and Wildlife agreed to waive their concern on the adjacent homestead lots.

As a result, there are now 128 homestead lots available for the housing project.