Naia: An Origin Story
Naia: An Origin Story
Like many things in life, the creation of Naia Resort and Residences involved a fair amount of luck – both good and bad.
First the bad. On October 9, 2001, Hurricane Iris slammed into the Placencia Peninsula with winds of 145 miles per hour. The destruction was massive. At first light on the 10th, Channel 5 television dispatched a news crew to cover the unfolding catastrophe. For the station’s Managing Director, Stewart Krohn, it was also personal; his family had just completed construction of a beach house south of the village of Seine Bight directly in the path of the storm.
Immediately following the reporters and cameramen, the station also sent several trucks with emergency relief supplies for the hard-hit residents, many of whom were now homeless. The next few days were spent distributing food and cleaning up debris as storm surge had temporarily covered the entire peninsula with up to five feet of water. The electricity grid had been destroyed and cell service was non-existent. Fortunately, the Krohns’ two-storey concrete beach house remained intact and was now filled with family members and friends from Belize City who had come down to help with the peninsula-wide cleanup.
Photo Credit: Cecil Johnston, ambergriscaye.com
After several days of hard work, the young guys on the crew needed a break from their labors. The sea had calmed considerably and the 12-foot family boat was unearthed from the sand, the 15HP outboard came out of storage and a 6-gallon container of gasoline had miraculously floated up on the beach. It was time for a fishing trip! The three anglers: Adam Krohn, Stephen Ferguson and Roger Espejo. Little did they know as they putt-putted out to sea that afternoon they would be the stars in the Belizean version of Gilligan’s Island.
When dusk descended and the boys had not returned, Mrs. Krohn went into panic mode. “Call the police,” she implored. “The police don’t have a boat,” I retorted. “Then call the Belize Defence Force,” she wailed. “Even if they had a boat what could they do in the dark?” I calmly replied. “Well do something,” she cried, “They’re just kids!”
Actually, they were all in their 20’s and reasonably fit and resourceful. Mrs. Krohn stayed up all night worrying while I went to bed and rose at dawn, climbed to the upper deck and focussed my binoculars.
Of course what I saw was not unexpected: three bedraggled sailors paddling the tiny boat with their hands about a mile offshore between False Caye and the mainland. I roughly computed their course and speed and drove my truck to where I thought they would make their rendezvous with the shore.
And this is where the good luck comes in.
I arrived a few minutes early and picked my way through the surprisingly thick forest between the muddy road and the sea. Emerging into the early morning sunlight from the dark jungle was a revelation. The stretch of beach was magnificent: a thin ribbon of white sand and coconut palms as far as the eye could see.
When the sleepless fishermen finally arrived, they recounted their tale of a broken engine, no paddles, no food, no water and only beer to keep them hydrated. They had eventually drifted to the safety of a mangrove island where they spent a long night with only mosquitoes and sandflies to keep them company. We loaded the boat into the truck and returned home for a hearty breakfast. Their embarrassment rapidly fading, the trio now had a story of survival that — suitably embellished — would be passed down for generations.
My mind, however, remained on the beach. How could such a gorgeous piece of property remain so unknown to both locals and the growing number of expats beginning to populate the peninsula? The simple answer is that the foliage was so thick and the road was so bad – ranging from mud to dust with omnipresent potholes – that no driver would dare to take their eyes off the track to even contemplate the presence of a beach beyond the bush.
The next step was finding out who owned the land. Bill and Jenny Wildman were the go-to brokers of that era and it turned out they already represented the absentee Canadian owners who had been trying to sell it. Turns out it was a single 254-acre parcel stretching from sea to lagoon – and the owners would not break it into smaller parcels. With the multi-million-dollar price tag well beyond my credit rating I asked my partners in Chanel 5 if they wanted to get in the land development business. “Sure,” they replied, hoping that it would prove more profitable than the broadcasting business.
A long negotiation ensued – more with the bank than the seller – and the deal finally closed in 2003 with a high-interest mortgage hanging over us like a guillotine. Fortunately, the real estate market soon heated up, we broke the narrow 30 acres on the property’s north end into 100-foot lots and within two years they were all sold and the bank was fully paid off.
At this point it would be easy to say that “the rest is history,” but in fact “the rest” is a continuing process that has had more than its share of adventurous ups and downs:
- A master plan was created in 2005 by Doug Coolman and Mike Jarvis of the prestigious design firm EDSA of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Doug and Mike have continued to work with us and have become valued friends.
- Following the plan’s approval by the Department of Environment, infrastructural works commenced in 2006: roads, water, electricity, drainage – with around 600,000 cubic yards of material excavated from the site to elevate the land and create the development’s signature lagoons.
- By 2008 we were ready to begin selling our first of over a hundred newly-subdivided residential lots… just in time for The Great Recession.
- The next few years were rough, but we kept the operation lean and gradually sold enough real estate to keep moving forward.
- By 2015 we had finalized plans with Latitude 20 Architects for a boutique resort to anchor the growing residential community. Atlantic Bank stepped up with the financing and in 19 hectic months Naia Resort and Spa was completed with our first guests arriving on September 30, 2016.
From before and since that time there have been many wonderful people who have helped transform the vision born on that beach in 2001 into reality. It is now our mission to continually improve that reality for our guests and residents well into the future.
Timeline of Our Evolution
At this point it would be easy to say that “the rest is history,” but in fact “the rest” is a continuing process that has had more than its share of adventurous ups and downs.
From before and since that time there have been many wonderful people who have helped transform the vision born on that beach in 2001 into reality. It is now our mission to continually improve that reality for our guests and residents well into the future.
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