Plantation Belize

Historical Perspective

Plantation Belize was started about 25 years ago when James Parker formed Belize Land & Development, LTD to acquire and develop the Plantation Belize land into a mixed use residential and commercial beachfront community. At that time, the Placencia Peninsula was isolated from the rest of Belize with only a few disconnected populations dotting the 16-mile beachfront landscape. The village of Placencia at the southern remote tip of the Peninsula was a fishing town accessed primarily by boat. Seine Bight, in the center of the Peninsula, was an old Garifuna Settlement, home to a unique indigenous culture, living in isolation in accordance with their century’s old traditions. North of Seine Bight at the top of the Peninsula was essentially nothing but thick jungle commonly known as littoral (seaside) forest. At the very north end of the Peninsula, there was a dirt road running 12 miles east and west from the Southern Highway to Riversdale, which provided a passable route for the few banana and citrus farms located north of the dirt road, to ship their harvest to global markets from a small docking area in Riversdale. There was no road on the Peninsula connecting these disparate locations and cultures.

To anyone else trekking through this apparent desolate outback, it would be nothing more than a point of reference along the way to a more civilized destination. But through the eyes of Jim Parker, an experienced and visionary land developer, the sixteen miles of sandy beachfront hidden behind the jungle was the destination. Jim could see the potential for the creation of a new beachfront vacation and retirement destination to satisfy the growing demand of retiring baby boomers and vacationing snowbirds searching for the safety and warmth offered by the Caribbean basin. In his mind’s eye he could see the resorts and hotel developments he had seen on Grace Bay in the Turks & Caicos and Seven Mile Beach on Grand Cayman, superimposed on the 16-mile stretch of pristine beachfront, which was the defining feature of the Placencia Peninsula. And he could only imagine the incredible economic potential to himself, his family and his investors, should this vision be transformed into reality.

At the time of this discovery, Jim was no stranger to Belize and its early emergence as an up-and-coming travel destination. He and his young family had first discovered Belize while vacationing through Central America in their RV in 1978. At that time, he was immediately impressed by the significant value that was offered by Belize beachfront land when compared to the more mature Caribbean destinations, and it was not long before he owned beachfront land in Dangriga to the north of the Placencia Peninsula and Punta Gorda to the south. However, in short time, those locations were eclipsed by the rising popularity of Placencia as the next big thing in Belize, so Parker began his search for a place on the Placencia Peninsula to stake his claim. In 1995, he discovered a major block on the Peninsula, the 2,300-acre beachfront estate now known as Plantation Belize. Jim moved quickly and soon put together a joint venture to develop the estate, into a new Caribbean resort destination.

He started by working with his engineers and architects to develop the Plantation Belize Master Plan consisting of 3 stages of development; Stage I, with 350 acres and 3 miles of beachfront, Stage II with 800 acres and 2 miles of beachfront and Stage III with 966 acres and 2.3 miles of beachfront (see Master Site Plan on this page). He simultaneously started a rigorous government mandated Environmental Impact Assessment and in 1997, The Plantation Belize Master Plan was approved by the Belize Department of the Environment, which enabled the development and buildout of Stage I. His first official action under the Master Plan was to (personally) bulldoze a road from Riversdale to Placencia Village effectively creating a seamless connection from Placencia Village to the Southern Highway and the rest of the civilized world.

Plantation Belize, Master Site Plan

Consistent Growth & Development

The development of Plantation Belize Stages I & II, stretching from Maya Beach northward to Riversdale would unfold over the next 20 years or so. These stages were either developed by Parker or subdivided and sold by Parker under the auspices of his Belize Land & Development LTD, of which he is the sole principal and shareholder. To date, Stage I has been developed into approximately 400 single family home sites, three commercial properties consisting of a projected total of 300 condominium and beach cabana units and a small lagoon side marina. In Stage II, 616 acres has been sold to a third-party developer, and has received governmental approval to be developed into a high-density mixed use residential and commercial marina community and the remaining 184 acres has been developed and sold as 175 single family home sites.

During the development of Stages I & II, much like the local tide, there was an ebb and flow of development along the Peninsula, rising in periods of economic prosperity and falling during hard times, the infamous “financial crisis” of the last decade being no exception. Yet, despite the recession, the Placencia Peninsula has experienced consistent growth in hospitality and tourism related development as described in the foregoing section on the Placencia Peninsula and has blossomed into the awareness of a global following of curious travelers anxious to discover the mystique that is Belize.

In fact, a recent feasibility study commissioned by an affiliate of Plantation Belize, revealed that the Belize hospitality market is ripe for new development. The feasibility study provided research on supply and demand trends in the Belize Lodging industry. They used among others; data provided by the Belize Tourism Board (BTB). According to the BTB 2018 Travel Digest, the Belizean lodging industry consisted of roughly 883 properties spanning over 8,435 rooms as of year-end 2018, with the majority of the hotel inventory oriented toward the budget traveler. The market is undersupplied in the branded hotel category, with just a few hotels representing internationally recognized chain affiliations, including the Radisson Fort George Hotel, the Ramada Belize City Princess, and the Best Western Plus Biltmore Plaza (all located in Belize City). (you can download a PDF copy of the BTB 2018 Travel Digest here.

In addition to lacking branded product, the market is undersupplied in terms of mid-sized to large lodging facilities. The BTB 2018 Travel Digest reports over 73% of the properties contained ten rooms or fewer in 2018, while only 1.5% of the nation’s total contained over 50 rooms. The majority of the country’s “ten and under” inventory is located in Placencia. While Placencia is characterized predominantly by small lodging properties, it posted the strongest supply growth of all submarkets in 2018, increasing the hotel supply 5.2% from 153 properties to 161. It is also important to note that the national figures presented by the BTB report contain both hotel and condominium supply, as the BTB defined “hotel” very broadly for its 2018 Travel Digest to include any “buildings, cottages, cabanas, apartments, or otherwise for the accommodation of guests for reward.”

For all the foregoing reasons, Jim Parker is opening Stage III of Plantation Belize with a view toward developing larger more upscale lodging facilities including branded hospitality management such as Hilton, Marriott, Wyndham, Hyatt and other major flag hotel companies. He has set his intentions on developing an ecologically friendly beachfront resort community within its boundaries and has committed personal resources to developing infrastructure to pave the way.