Beach Theater Closer to Becoming 2 Restaurants

With Studio AD’s Albert Dambrose and Patrick Vanasse from The Neighborhood Company pitching his idea, Beach Theater owner Steve Boge received approval from the LPA this week to move forward with his plans to convert The Beach Theater into two restaurants.

LPA members were mostly concerned with 2 things; parking and the disruption into the residential neighborhood from outdooor music and crowd noise.

The 6425 Estero Boulevard property is very close to Egret and Curlew streets, and also happens to be where 2 LPA members live. In addition to the concern about music, residents do not want customers parking on their streets.

Boge agreed to be ready to valet park customers (and employees) over on the old Dolphin Inn lot which is on the other corner of Egret and Estero Boulevard. The Dolphin Inn was destroyed by Hurricane Ian and demolished months later. Boge is part of the ownership group that owns that property.

LPA members want Boge to have a plan ready before rebuild plans for the Dolphin Inn property come forward. The parking issue was caused by Boge’s plan to convert the property under the building to an open air bar and restaurant. That property was used for parking when the Beach Theater was operating. They also plan to stack cars in the current parking lot. Not stacked in the air but in front of one another by the valet company.

The property, for many years, was the only movie theater on the island. Boge plans to redevelop the property as a restaurant and bar on the first level above flood and a bar with games and entertainment area on the open ground floor. The second story above flood will be used for storage and office space. There are no plans to continue showing movies.

Boge agreed to add doors to the lower floor on the Egret street side to help reduce the noise form the outdoor music and crowds.

Boge also plans to change the building exterior, adding a deck with shade structure for restaurant seating on the first level above flood, that extends toward Estero Blvd approximately 15 feet, a wall along the rear of the building on the first floor to block sound and light from the bar and entertainment area to the adjacent neighborhood, a buffer with a fence along the property line adjacent to the single family residential property, and landscaping.
Boge received approval for special exceptions to allow outdoor entertainment, to be able to serve alcohol outside, and for outdoor seating. Based on his plans, current town code would require Boge to have 115 parking spaces. He received approval for a variance to allow him to have 33 spaces and bring forward his overflow valet parking plan.

The way the town process works now is that Boge needs to go before the Town Council for two public hearings for the special exceptions. As long as there are no objections to his parking variance 10 days from approval he does not need any further approval for that. Being that the Town Council does not meet in July the special exception public hearings will likely be in August and September.

If Boge receives approval from the Town Council he expects permitting to take 2-3 months and another 6 months to complete the build. The plan would be to open during the 2026 season.

Nick Campo owned the Beach Theater from 1999 until he sold it to Boge. The theater closed in May of 2022 when Boge purchased the building for $4 million, and was contemplating what to do with it. Then, of course, Hurricane Ian changed and delayed everything. Boge’s ownership group also purchased the 34-room Gulfview Manor Resort as part of the deal. The total for both properties was $19 million.

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