LEIGHTON LEVY, STAR Writer

As Jamaica's elite athletes prepare to compete at the International Association of Athletics Federations World Championships in Beijing, China, businessman Owen Brodber on Wednesday launched an ambitious project designed to pay tribute to them and potentially earn billions of dollars for the country as well.

Brodber is one of the principals of Global Jamaica Intellectual Property Ventures that has partnered with the Jamaica Council of Churches in what is essentially a luxury real-estate development and entertainment-based entrepreneurial initiative from which Jamaica and its elite athletes stand to benefit significantly.

Upton Gold and Upton World housing developments comprise what is to be Golden Resorts of Jamaica (local) from which the entire profits from Upton Gold, an estimated US$1.5million, would be going to gold-medal winners from Beijing in 2008, Berlin 2009, Daegu in 2011, London in 2012, and Moscow in 2013.

"This donation, the first of its kind anywhere in the world, will not only provide significant promotional benefit for the much bigger Upton World developments in at least five athletics locales," Brodber said.

"We will be building the Upton Gold development as a monument to the superlative achievements of the gold- medal status of our country, and there will be five blocks named after the five world games since 2008 starting with Beijing."

The Upton Gold development could take another 18 months to get started, but Brodber has plans to advance 10 per cent of the projected profits to the beneficiaries before construction even begins.

"Each beneficiary will get 25 per cent of the proceeds from the value of one of Upton World's 3,200 square-foot semi-detached villa units. Under consideration is the possibility that one beneficiary is to get a unit free of cost. The other five would get a 50 per cent discount on the units. Each villa is expected to cost in the region of US$1 million.