On Tuesday, The Estero Island Beach Club team was be back before the Local Planning Agency with their latest plan to rebuild on their property next to DiamondHead. After originally pitching a 10-story building that was rejected by the Town Council, the latest proposal could be the winner for EIBC.
It’s been a long and winding road for the 2,200 time-share owners at EIBC, which come from 40 states around the U.S. and 5 countries to stay at EIBC, vacation on Fort Myers Beach, and pump millions of dollars into the local economy. The 75-unit time-share building was converted from a motel back in 1981.
Before Hurricane Ian EIBC was 2 buildings of about 2-3 stories. They were totally destroyed by the storm and eventually demolished. After Hurricane Ian EIBC has a little less land to build on thanks to the 1978 Coastal Construction Control Line. A portion of the north building lost 6 units and a portion of the south building lost 2 units that were previously over that line.
In October of 2024 the LPA approved Estero Island Beach Club’s original 10-story new building proposal. The following month, the Town Council denied it. The reason, not enough public benefit to warrant a 10-story building. The denial was done ‘with prejudice’ which meant EIBC would have had to sit out the town’s process for a year. Then in November of 2024 the Town Council voted to allow EIBC to come back before the town with a new presentation.
The proposal LPA members saw this week was for the same number of units pre-Ian (75) in a flatter U shape building that takes up more of the property than the 10-story structure but is only 3 stories over parking in the middle section. The other two sides of the “U” are proposed to be 4 over parking. The Floor Area Ratio (F.A.R.) is reduced from October 2024 proposal of 1.4 to now be 1.2. Every unit in the building will be 842 square feet.
Here’s the list of public benefits EIBC presented to the LPA this week with their new building plans…
Following the presentation the LPA voted unanimously (7-0) to approve the new plan and move it onto the Town Council where two public hearings will be held, the first one on June 2nd.
If approved by the Town Council, the EIBC Board of Directors would then need to pitch the revised plans, estimated cost to build and estimated assessments they would be faced with to pay for the project. The owners would then have 60 days to decide whether they want to move forward based on those financials. EIBC Board President Jim Murley also said, “We don’t have deep pockets. Getting approval from a lending institution may be more challenging than a developer.”
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