Feinstein Discontinues $178 Million Lawsuit Against G.O.B. & Portico  

In August 2023, developer Mike Feinstein and Stake Bank filed a claim against the Attorney General and Portico Enterprises Limited, the company behind Port of Magical Belize, seeking nearly one hundred and eighty million dollars in special damages for multiple breaches of their definitive agreement. Back in August 2017, the Feinstein Group struck a deal with the Government of Belize to build and operate the Stake Bank project, also known as Port Coral. At that time, the Barrow administration indicated it was considering granting Portico approval to build and operate a cruise ship docking facility near the Port of Belize. This twenty-five-year agreement was established before the Stake Bank Cruise Docking Facility Development Act came into effect in January 2018. Despite this agreement, the government approved another cruise ship docking facility in Belize District, leading to the controversial Port of Magical Belize. Feinstein argued that this move disrupted Stake Bank’s negotiations with financial institutions for project financing and with cruise ship operators for docking agreements, ultimately halting the construction of the Stake Bank Project. Feinstein sought several reliefs, including a declaration that the Government of Belize breached their August twenty-fifth, 2017 agreement, damages for breach of contract, and damages against Portico for inducing the breach, among other claims. Earlier this week, a notice of discontinuance was filed in the High Court, with Michael Feinstein stating he is “wholly discontinuing the action against the respondents in these proceedings”. However, litigation is still ongoing regarding the compulsory acquisition of nearly twenty-four acres of land on Stake Bank Island, with Feinstein suing the government over this issue.