Georgetown’s 22-Storey Duke Tower Signals Guyana’s Urban Property Boom

Kingston, Jamaica — 16 April 2025

A 22-storey residential tower is under development in Georgetown, Guyana, marking one of the most ambitious vertical construction projects in the country’s history and signalling the rapid transformation of the capital’s urban real estate landscape. The Duke Tower, located on Duke Street in the Kingston district of Georgetown, will contain 131 upscale residential units and represents a convergence of international design expertise, foreign capital, and local business ambition driven by Guyana’s growing oil economy.

International Partnership Behind the Project

The project is being constructed by FASER Construction, a subsidiary of Proyectamos y Edificamos, a Colombian real estate development company with a track record of large-scale urban projects across Latin America. FASER is working in partnership with Roraima Airways and a consortium of international investors. The tower was conceptualised by Compass Realty Group and designed by architect Didier Rincon, whose international profile adds an additional dimension of prestige to the development.

FASER’s engineer Camilo Fajardo, speaking at the project’s launch at the Pegasus Corporate Suites in Georgetown, highlighted the importance of blending global standards with local knowledge: “Real success needs local knowledge.” The partnership with Roraima Airways and New Hayven, a local merchant bank, reflects a model that has become increasingly common in Guyana’s rapidly expanding construction sector, where international capital is matched with established Guyanese institutional relationships.

A Monument and a Market Signal

The Duke Tower is envisioned not only as a residential building but as a monument to the Gouveia family and the legacy of Roraima Airways in Guyanese aviation and hospitality history. Of the 131 units, 89 will be modern condominiums with expansive views and high-specification interior finishes. Amenities planned for the development include a swimming pool with a separate children’s pool, a full fitness centre with a gym, yoga studio, steam room and sauna, co-working spaces, a party salon, a boardroom, a movie room, a sports bar, and outdoor barbecue facilities.

This level of amenity provision marks a departure from older residential norms in Georgetown and reflects the expectations of a new generation of Guyanese professionals and returning diaspora members who have experienced urban living standards in North America and Europe and are now looking to replicate that quality at home.

Guyana’s Urban Real Estate Surge

The Duke Tower emerges in a Guyana that has been dramatically reshaped by oil revenues since the first commercial offshore discoveries began generating returns. Property prices and rent in Georgetown and surrounding areas have surged considerably, with high real estate costs now posing challenges to affordability for many middle and lower-income residents. At the same time, the construction of premium residential projects has accelerated, catering to the growing class of oil industry workers, international consultants, and business professionals operating in the country.

Stabroek News has reported that Guyana faces a genuine housing crisis, with infrastructure deficiencies in newer housing developments and significant backlogs in land allocation and title processing compounding the pressure on the broader population. The Duke Tower addresses the top end of the market, while the government has been focused on scaling up affordable and low-income housing through the Central Housing and Planning Authority.

Caribbean Implications

Georgetown’s vertical turn is a development worth watching across the Caribbean. Small island and coastal cities across the region are grappling with constrained land availability, rising construction costs, and growing populations with rising income expectations. The emergence of high-rise residential development in Guyana, backed by oil wealth and international design expertise, demonstrates what becomes possible when a small economy gains access to transformative capital. The question of how that capital is distributed, and whether premium development crowds out or complements affordable housing, will define the sustainability of Georgetown’s urban growth story for years to come.

Source: Stabroek News, 16 April 2025