Details of Caye Chapel Sale Revealed

On Tuesday, the Government of Belize, through BELTRAIDE, announced the completion of the sale of Caye Chapel to a group of Mexican investors, who own El Secreto in San Pedro.  The two hundred and sixty-five acre island which has been in foreclosure by the Belize Bank for a number of years has been sold for an amount believed to be north of twenty million U.S. dollars.  While the proposed development will be subjected to the scrutiny of Cabinet’s investment subcommittee, as well as an environmental impact assessment by NEAC, Chief Executive Officer in the Ministry of Trade and Investment, Mike Singh, told the media today that the investment will be beneficial to Belize as an established tourism destination.

Mike Singh, C.E.O., Ministry of Trade & Investment

Mike Singh

“The group is made up of the owners of a resort in North Ambergris Caye called El Secreto, which is a very high-end resort that’s been getting very high reviews and awards lately.  So the owners of El Secreto is a part of the investment group and they have brought in some additional Mexican investors that are very large in developments in Acapulco, Mexico City and Cancun.  So the potential for this group is very high because they have all the connections, they certainly have the available capital to invest and of course because of the connection with the Belize Bank, the Central Bank had to be involved very closely to ensure that number one the funds are coming from a legitimate source, that they have the capability of doing it and also to approve the transaction because this is now changing an asset on the Belize Bank’s books from a nonperforming asset and liquidating it, which is a good thing.  It means that it strengthens their balance sheet.  So overall the benefits are multiple.  In respect to where the development is going, we’re being told by the developers that they will be presenting to us a development plan early in the new year.  Of course that’s going to go through the full process, the investment subcommittee of cabinet is going to look at it’s going to have to go through the EIA process.  The initial renderings that they showed us it doesn’t do well for us.”

According to Singh, the investors are in discussion with renowned global luxury brand The Four Seasons to develop high-end residencies on the island.