MINISTER in the Ministry of Housing Phillip Alexander says the Housing Development Corporation (HDC) is seeking legal advice to recover millions following what he termed a massive financial misstep at the Ridgeview Heights project in Bon Air North.He told members of the media during a site visit yesterday that units valued at a maximum market price of $600,000 were built under the previous administration at costs reaching up to $1.5 million per unit, leaving taxpayers to shoulder hundreds of thousands of dollars in losses per home.Noting that HDC is a developer, he explained, “When you go to build as a developer, you build to the market because if you don’t build to the market you will end up going out of business but HDC doesn’t have to go out of business.”Alexander said the completed apartments at Ridgeview Heights could not command more than $600,000, even with the best finishes. He claimed that under former housing minister Camille Robinson-Regis, the HDC entered into an agreement to construct the units at a cost of $1.2 million each.“That is a hundred percent increase on the value of what could be sold here,” he added.According to Alexander, the project subsequently incurred an $80 million cost overrun, pushing the average cost per habitable townhouse to almost $1.5 million, nearly three times the units’ actual market value.“Meaning that everybody who paid $600,000 for one of the finished units up here, the taxpayers foot the bill for $800,000 and $900,000 per unit,” he said.Alexander said the HDC board is now exploring legal options to determine whether some of the money can be recovered.“And the board, I was told by the chairman today, are seeking legal advice as to how to recover what went on here,” he said.He also highlighted losses associated with partially completed units at the development.On the losses incurred in the 52 townhouse, 152 apartment development, he said, “There were 50 partially completed units that were paid for and the HDC spent $165,992,000 for partially completed units.”“That math is these units were three-quarter way paid for but the HDC can’t fine units that 50% completed,” he added.“And when that was done, an agreement was made between the contractor and the HDC to pay them up to that point and cancel the project, So, all of the money that was spent was going to be lost,” said the minister.He blamed the previous administration for the project being stalled and said the current government had spent the past year attempting to salvage what it could.“This project was stalled by Camille Robinson-Regis,” Alexander claimed.“This government, a year now, has been trying to turn this project around and salvage whatever they could from it. But everything here behind you, all of it has to be demolished,” Alexander said.He also highlighted some of the issues with the units.“The houses are built on the surface of the land, there’s nothing locking them into the earth. They could blow away. We have no idea how many of them are like that,” he said.He continued: “This project was done and a lot of these buildings have no infrastructure. No plumbing, no electrical, no sewerage, no drainage.”Comparing the projects to others which had faced probes, he said: “This is more Trestrail, Las Alturas, this was paid for by the HDC and the Camille Robinson-Regis.”“Now taxpayers have to foot the bill again for another demolition,” Alexander added.He said these were among the challenges confronting the Government, which has had to explain why the housing units have not yet been handed over to applicants. Alexander said a number of projects inherited from the previous administration had to undergo further examination to determine whether they were safe for occupation.“That’s where we are today, trying to quantify the size of the loss, the project here, while we try to get them finished so that we can hand over the keys,” he added.The Express attempted to contact Robinson-Regis yesterday but was unsuccessful.