Isiaa Madden, Architect of Jamaica’s Luxury Resort, The Pinnacle

by Howard Campbell

MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica – One of Isiaa Madden’s favorite pastimes is jogging along the Montego Bay waterfront in the mornings. In four years, she will have even more reason to enjoy running by that strip.

One of Jamaica’s leading architects, Madden is designer for The Pinnacle, a four-pronged, sky-scraper, luxury residential resort investment project which was unveiled in the resort city on January 20.

She was present at the groundbreaking ceremony along with Jamaica’s prime minister Andrew Holness, tourism minister Ed Bartlett and officials of LCH Developments, the Jamaica-based company behind the $350 million private initiative.

A graduate of Howard University, it is Madden’s grandest undertaking. One she believes will make her hometown and country an even greater tourism force when completed in 2028.

“It will do a lot not only for Montego Bay but for Jamaica. It has a lot to offer and I think it will give us a boost in our tourism product,” said Madden.

At the groundbreaking ceremony, Holness stated that when finished, The Pinnacle will bring “a new level of real estate development to Jamaica’s tourism industry.”

Madden added that the developers are also looking to tap into one of Jamaica’s most ebullient markets.

Investment Opportunity For the Diaspora

“We definitely hope to attract our Diaspora abroad to come back and invest in a piece of the rock, as we call Jamaica.”

According to a release from LCH Developments, “The Pinnacle boasts four towers ,each 28-storeys high with 423 residences in one, two, three-bedroom apartments. The Pinnacle is an eclectic mix of residential and tourism facilities that  includes four and five-bedroom penthouses, fifteen private villa, concierge services, shopping centres, restaurants, bars, a private club, a spa and a marina as well as tennis courts and other sporting facilities.”

Born  in Kingston, Isiaa Madden moved with her family to Montego Bay at age four. The Maddens have been synonymous with the mortuary industry in Jamaica for decades.

She has been a practicing architect for over 20 years, working on major projects in Jamaica including housing developments, strip malls, and with high-profile hotels such as Rio and Half Moon.

For the past six years,  she has been associated with LCH Developments.

While wary of the magnitude and expectations around The Pinnacle, Madden takes a patriotic view of the project.

I hope to make Montegonians proud and Jamaicans proud, and I want everyone to know that it’s not about Isiaa Madden. This is about being the patriotic Jamaican that I am, and trying to put Jamaica on the map to compete with all the other tourism products that they have all over the world,” she said.