15% of Ambergris Caye Is About to Come Up for Auction…in a Parking Lot in Belize City

In less than two weeks, about 3,000 acres of land on Ambergris Caye, roughly 15% of the island acreage, is scheduled to go up for public auction.

The location of the auction? A parking lot in Belize City.

According to a public notice from the law firm Barrow & Williams, the property will be auctioned at their offices on Albert Street in Belize City. Interested buyers may submit written bids in advance, but the official sale will take place in person at the firm’s parking lot.

For a property of this size, and potentially worth tens of millions of dollars, the whole thing feels a little…unusual.

But also… this parcel of land has always had a strange and complicated history.

The Land

The parcel sits about 10 miles north of San Pedro Town, in the center of Ambergris Caye. It includes a mix of mangrove forest, wetlands and lagoon coast.

At 3,000 acres, the property is enormous.

To put that into perspective, Ambergris Caye is about 25 miles long and is estimated at about 17,600 of land acres in total. The HUGE Bacalar Chico National Park at the northern tip of the island is about 12,560 acres total (though I’d guess 1/3 of that number is the Cantena Lagoon). And much of the rest of the island is already privately owned and/or developed.

This single parcel represents a significant portion of the island’s remaining undeveloped land.

Quick Timeline: How We Got Here

Mid-1990s:
The Government of Belize acquired the Pinkerton Estate lands on northern Ambergris Caye in the mid-1990s…seems like 1994 but I’m getting mixed messages on the internet.

The stated goals were: to reserve some sections for future development and national planning, to regularize land ownership in the area and to distribute parcels to Belizeans, particularly residents of Ambergris Caye.

(If you want to go down a rabbit hole, google the Pinkerton Estates or ask someone who has lived on Ambergris Caye for 40…50 years. I’ve heard about land scams, hidden Mayan temples and even about gun-running for Oliver North and the Iran-Contra affair… Who knows what is true?)

2007
The approximately 3,000 acres are sold to a company called Caribbean Developers (Belize) Ltd (that some say were Korean investors but no one seems sure). The reported price was around $6 million USD. There were INSANE plans attached to this and the PM at the time said that development was “imminent”.

Shortly after…like ONLY one month later, the land was used as collateral for a loan from the Industrial Bank of Korea for $13 million USD.

And then…only about a year later: In January 2009, the law firm Barrow & Williams issued a foreclosure notice on behalf of the Industrial Bank of Korea, indicating that the bank intended to sell the property.

Late 2000s through the 2010s
Ambitious plans circulate for a large tourism development including casinos, hotels, marinas, golf courses, and resort infrastructure. In 2015/2016, the land was listed for sale with a local real estate company for $15millionUSD. The next year the most over the top plan circulated – and the town had a public meeting – for a development that would include 10 casinos. TEN. And that was just the beginning.

Here’s a quote from the San Pedro Sun article: “The construction project will be divided into three phases, and is set to be completed over a period of 10 to 20 years. The development is designed to be equipped with 12 hotel complexes spanning 375 acres and offering 6,100 suites; 302 multi-family complexes spanning 430 acres and offering a total of 1,210 units; 835 single family residences spanning 965 acres; 20 over-water villas spanning 30 acres; 400 beach club condominium units on 20 acres of Caribbean beach front; as well as a transit pier on five acres, and a free zone established on 140 acres; for a total of 8,565 suites, units and residences, to be established on 2,110 acres. The amenities include: boating facilities; spa and fitness clubs, and a golf course.”

You will not be surprised to hear this but nothing was built.

2026

I was writing about a new (and strangely placed) road on North Ambergris Caye that seems to be happening with little to no public information. This was a few days ago. Here’s the write up and here is the map.

I noticed that the road is heading towards (and potentially thru) that old “Korean bank land” that I remember from years ago. So I google that land and: The 3,000 acre parcel is scheduled for public auction by Barrow & Williams.

Crazy coincidence!

Date: March 21, 2026 Location of the auction: their office parking lot in Belize City on a Saturday

A Quick Note on Value

When the property was sold in 2007, reports indicated a price of US$6 million for the entire 3,000-acre parcel. That’s $2000USD an acre.

Today, raw land on Ambergris Caye can sell anywhere from US$20,000 to well over US$100,000 per acre…wayyyy more for beachfront property. It all depends on location, access, and development potential.

Even allowing for wetlands and mangrove areas within the parcel, land of this size on Ambergris Caye would likely represent tens of millions, and possibly far more as a huge parcel, in potential value today.

Which makes the upcoming foreclosure auction all the more interesting…

How Foreclosure Auctions Work in Belize

When land is used as collateral for a loan and the borrower defaults, the lender can exercise what is called a power of sale under Belize property law. This allows the lender, or a receiver acting on their behalf, to sell the land to recover the debt.

In many cases the sale is conducted by public auction.

— I’ve attended two public auctions on Ambergris Caye, and both were relatively small gatherings and ended in NO SALE. You don’t learn any more than that! 2017: Unfinished Condos at about 7.5 Miles North and 2022: A Few of the Commercial Buildings at Mahogany Bay Village

The process is usually fairly simple. A notice of sale is published, often in local newspapers, and the auction is held publicly. In practice, auctions are sometimes advertised only briefly before the sale takes place.

The property is typically sold as is to the highest bidder.

But what’s so strange about it to me is how…quiet it all is. If you have this much land on this island – what would you do to sell it? A flash website. Social media adverts. Full page ads in the NYTimes, Wall Street Journal, The Financial Times…whatever rich folks are reading these days. I’d shop it around to huge NGOs and conservation groups…maybe as an extension of the Bacalar Chico World Heritage site. What I’m saying is: I’d GO BIG.

But…property auctions in Belize are technically public. Anyone can attend and place a bid. But it seems like these sales often happen quietly, with limited/no advertising and very little/no fanfare. Serious buyers, I imagine, hear about them through lawyers, bankers, or private networks before the public notices appear.

What Happens Next?

If the auction proceeds as scheduled, someone may soon acquire one of the largest undeveloped tracts of land on Ambergris Caye.

Who that buyer might be, and what they might do with it, remains to be seen.

Ambergris Caye has changed dramatically over the past twenty years. Development continues to push north. Infrastructure struggles to keep up. Conversations about planning, traffic, housing, and environmental protection are becoming more and more desperate and urgent.

Whoever ends up with these 3,000 acres will play a major role in shaping what the north end of Ambergris Caye looks like in the decades ahead.

And for now, the next chapter in this long and unusual land story begins with a public auction in a parking lot…in Belize City.