Jim:
Thank you for your perspective on “South Beach Belize”, on exclusive and beautiful Ambergris Caye in Belize. As the Sales Administrator for the U.S. marketing of this project, I can tell you that it is priced below most comparable developments on Ambergris Caye, and in the Caribbean. It also offers more amenties than most. In addition, Belize has some of the best real estate prices in the Caribbean. This is not going to last long, with 800,000 tourists annually, and growing five percent each year.

Hello Tom,
Thank you for your expanded experience regarding the South Beach -Belize project. I will check out in much further detail.
Jim

Jim:
One thing that makes South Beach Belize especially attractive is the sense of privacy and exclusivity – as a result of being on a Caye (Ambergris Caye) rather than on the mainland. Even better, it is located on the previously undeveloped southern tip of Ambergris Caye (no through-traffic). IT IS ALMOST LIKE BEING ON A PRIVATE ISLAND, but for less cost because of being only a few miles across water from sources of food, labor, and raw materials, i.e. everything needed is ‘imported’ from a short distance.

Hello Tom,
Thank you for your further insight into the South Beach Belize planned development. I did some more homework and it appears that it is actually over 800 acres that have been designated for this project! I look forward to walking it in the next month or so. Again, thanks for the information.
Jim

I am Jerry L. Wallace and a developer of several large condominium resort projects in the Florida panhandle. I am also the U.S. Sales & Marketing Manager for South Beach Belize. Let me contrast Caribbean development with U.S. resort development: A primary challenge in U.S. resort development is how to create a “sense of place” with very little land. Available coastal land in the U.S. is both scarce and expensive – the best you can do is create a high quality “enclave” with a few hundred feet of increasingly crowded beach front. Therefore it is becoming difficult to create amenity-rich environments – the only thing you can do is develop where a lot of amenities already exist. If an amenity-rich environment already exists, the land and construction costs are high. For example, think what it would cost to buy the 800+ acres we have in South Beach Belize in current South Beach, Miami!!! More important to residents and investors in resort property, a sea view villa in South Beach Belize can be purchased at this moment for about $125 per square foot, INCLUDING THE PRIVATE LOT ON WHICH IT SITS. Compare this to a new comparable quality high-rise condominium in South Beach, Miami that sells for four to five times as much. South Beach Belize is located on Ambergris Caye, where surveys indicate the highest level of tourist and resident satisfaction. The site for our project has never been developed till now, being at the very tip of the Caye. In addition to the many amenities available for owners at South Beach Belize, we are located only 3-4 miles south of San Pedro on Ambergris Caye, with its many places for shopping and fine restaurant dining. At South Beach Belize, we are in the process of recreating the ambiance of South Beach Miami, complete with THIRTY art deco boutique hotels, located along Ocean Drive (named after Miami’s Ocean Drive). One of our amenities is the beautiful Dunes Casino, on land jutting out into the Caribbean. Nearby, there is an exclusive private golfing and resort island (six minutes by plane or twenty minutes by boat) with its own jet strip, which is available to residents of South Beach Belize. Lastly, resort property in the U.S. today requires a much longer time horizon to make sense as an appreciating investment. Moreover, rental of U.S. resort units rarely covers the cost and maintenance of the investment. With land plus improvements in South Beach Belize selling as low as 20-25 percent that of comparable resort property in the U.S., many parts of the Caribbean, and South Beach Belize in particular, offer unequaled investment value. Our project can be viewed at www3.southbeachbelize.com.

Wow! Jerry, now that is a “comment”! This could be an article for the opportunity happening at South Beach – Belize. I look forward to discusing it further in the new future.
Jim

My husband and I are SO excited about this development! We’re buying NOW, before the costs go up! I just can’t wait to get there. Live in my villa and write my book!

Hello Bella,
What an exciting time in your lives! South Beach is an awesome opportunity for those who want to live in Paradise, and it sounds as if you have found your piece of the tropics. We look forward to your book. You will need to send me an autographed copy. Enjoy your day…fair winds to you!

Of course I’ll send you a copy! Will you be living at South Beach Belize as well?

Hi Donna,
We several places in the Caribbean chain of islands because of our sailing adventures. However, we are in Belize often so we look forward to visiting you at some point. Enjoy your day in Paradise!

We were just in AC, and heard a lot of talk about how the development of South Beach will destroy the mangroves in that area and in turn kill the reef. The protected areas of Hol Chan marine reserve and Shark Ray Alley will be killed off because of this project. The mangroves that will be destroyed is where the fish from the reef go to lay eggs since bigger predators cannot get to them there. So one of the best areas in the world to dive and snorkel will no longer be. I personally do not support this project. If you support ruining this beautiful area, and killing parts of the world’s second largest barrier reef along with all of its amazing sea life, then you better hurry up and BUY now while prices are low!

I was interested in this development but found out that that the developer does not have all the required permits to build this development. How can you be selling this when it cant be built?

Thank you for checking in, John. Yes, we have pulled our endorsement of this project. At the moment the developer has not demonstrated that they can comply with the environmental requirements of the country. My guess is that it is dead in the water at this point.

ambergris caye USED to be so lovely, this is the final nail in the coffin

This whole project sounds like it will simply turn a beautiful, unspoiled destination into another “Cancun”-I can’t believe people would sacrifice all this indigenous wildlife simple to profit and offer yet another cookie-cutter resort destination

Thank you, Karena, for checking in. Yes, we pulled our endorsement of this project months ago. We believe that it has now been halted. If not, we will participate in the initiatives to make sure that it does, or that it complies with all environmental guide lines. Again, thanks for checking in. Until next time…fair winds!

What a shame that they picked such a fragile spot of land to develop. I love the concept and will be buying somewhere in Belize within the next year. Do you know if this development is dead or if they may move it to the north end of the island? I would love to live there, but not at the costs to wildlife that were discussed above. Thank you for your input.

Please contact me when you get more info.

Hello Roger…this project at Old South Belize has been halted, probably permanently, because of the unacceptable environmental impact. It is a beautiful country that needs to be developed with the environment as the key factor on whatever is done.