Sept / Oct 2016 | Business View Caribbean

70 September 2016 - Business View Caribbean Business View Caribbean - September 2016 71 sion expanded into the current 90-room hotel,” Lomont continues. “Marco saw there was an opportunity for something even bigger. In 2004, there was a property available, which he saw would be a wonderful aspect to add to the hotel. At the end of the year, we started groundwork on what is now The Placencia Residences. It was an idea thought to be premature for its time, how- ever having all that groundwork started allows us to be in a very unique position today, due to the amount of work accomplished when nobody was thinking in this direction. We now have fully-paved roads, our own wa- ter system in-house, and underground power as well. We have made many big jumps over the years.” “We have 156 lots within The Placencia Residences and there are currently 50 homes constructed or in partial construction,” Lomont continues. “So we’re about a third of the way through with constructing homes within that part of the development. Some are built over multiple lots, so there will be around 140 homes when we’re through. We have full-time own- ers, as well as owners using their homes for vacation, with the intention of moving down full-time upon re- tirement; others have their homes as an investment property. A lot of people who never expected to move here full-time have done so. Belize has become more and more attractive for full-time living.” There are several reasons why that is so. Lomont stresses the country’s demographics (Belize has one of the lowest population densities on the planet with just over 330,000 people); its unspoiled, natural envi- ronment; and the fact that it is the only Central Ameri- can country that is English-speaking and functions un- der British Common Law, having once been the colony of British Honduras. In addition to those appealing aspects are the country’s very friendly economic in- centives. Belize has no property purchase restrictions 26% of land and sea protected within 95 reserves ...because we value our 8,867 square miles of natural resources. www.bel.com.bz 39% Hydro | 14% Biomass (bagasse) | 42% combined, imported from Mexico | 5% Fossil Fuels Powered by Over 50% Renewable Energy Sources BELIZE