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72 September 2016 - Business View Caribbean
Business View Caribbean - September 2016 73
also have Copal Beach Resort, another resort we’re
completing,” says Lomont. “And that will have about
263 rooms and a three and a half acre pool. We are
building a state-of-the-art hospital located close to
our airport and Panther Golf Club, a private, 18-hole,
Robert Trent Jones Signature Golf Course. Marina Vil-
lage, which we’re developing along the beach by the
hotel, is a full commercial complex - a town center so
to speak. There are a lot of different aspects that we’re
working on, the vision is pretty firm and the approvals
for foreigners, and it offers a generous Retirement In-
centives Program that allows Qualified Retirement Per-
sons to move personal effects to the country free of all
import duties and taxes.
Because of all those obvious advantages, Lomont says
that the company is in full-growth mode. In addition
to the initial phase of The Placencia Residences, she
reports that a second phase of construction will fill an-
other 49 lots. “In addition to The Residences, we have
condominiums at Copal Beach Resort, condominiums
at Marina Village, additional lots and condominiums at
the Panther Golf Course, and town homes at the Pla-
cencia Residences Phase II. By the time we’re done,
we’ll have about 2,500 residential components. We’re
building an international town.”
While most guests and residents at The Placencia now
come from the U.S. and Canada during the high sea-
son, because - according to Lomont - that’s where the
majority of flights come from, the company’s vision is
much broader and it wants to reach beyond its current
market. But to truly become a year-round, international
destination, there has to be a way to allow direct flights
from Europe, South America, the Caribbean, and addi-
tional locations in North America, to access the area.
So, the company is building its own, privately-financed,
international airport, just minutes north of the resort.
With its 9,200 ft. runway, it is sized to accommodate
today’s giant commercial jet liners, including 777s,
787s, 747s, and Airbus aircraft. And, in addition to
boosting traffic to The Placencia and southern Be-
lize, Lomont believes that it will help Belize’s general
economy because the country will be getting a second
international airport through private investment. “It’s
something they very much like,” she quips.
But The Placencia’s growth isn’t stopping there. “We