Dan Myers and his family own four residential properties and one commercial lot on Fort Myers Beach. Myers wants to build a “Merchant Plaza” across the street from the old Town Hall property at 2500 and 2510 Estero Boulevard. The LPA will vote on his plan Thursday.
Myers and his family lost all four Fort Myers Beach homes they owned on the island. Prior to the storm they were working on a proposal to build a Family Entertainment Center on the vacant lot at 2500 Estero Blvd, a 15,000 square foot building that included duckpin bowling, axe throwing, putt-putt golf, an arcade and a restaurant. Myers told Beach Talk Radio in July of 2023 that was no longer feasible because the bulk of their money is being used to replace their homes on the beach, and preserve their now 5 bare lots.
The Merchant Plaza would include mobile vendors, transient merchants with outdoor seating, live entertainment, a recreation area, alcohol and a commercial parking lot. Myers is requesting 6 deviations from the Land Development Code.
The concept site is designed for five pads with utility hookups for mobile vendors/transient merchants, and a permanent support structure with restrooms (1500 SF maximum), which will surround an outdoor seating, entertainment, and recreation area. Additional outdoor seating is also proposed along Estero Boulevard.
You can watch a video of what Myers is planning HERE.
Historically, the property located at 2500 Estero Boulevard was home to several restaurants over time such as The Holmes House, Smitty’s on the Beach and the Mucky Duck. The last restaurant use was removed in 2005 with that portion of the site remaining vacant.
The proposed hours of operation are 7am to 10 pm seven days a week. Outdoor entertainment is proposed to run until 9:00 pm.
Staff has recommended the LPA approve the project with 23 conditions.
We will carry the LPA meeting live on our Facebook page and YouTube channel Thursday morning at 9AM
Another bad idea for the Island. Who and what is this area going to attract? Again here we go allowing another 23 conditions to the owners to rebuild the area. I’m sorry they lost those properties to IAN although hopefully they recouped those losses with insurance. I wonder how does this fit into FEMA rules allowing these things so close to a flood zone area.
Yea, why would anyone want more places for FAMILIES TO FREQUENT?? SMH….
I didn’t think the town was allowing “mobile vendors” on the island. A big parking dark lot with portable bathrooms is a great place for people to hang out late at night. Bad idea.
The bathrooms would be locked!
“You can let folks know to email Town Clerk, Amy Baker, (amy@fmbgov.com) with their concerns and she can send their emails to the LPA Board and Town Council.” taken from an email by Judith Frankel
I just want to say that I believe that it is critical to understand just who is behind Empire Holding Corp and what kind of business and ethics they bring to our Beach with them. James Hotka is listed as the representative on the filing paperwork for Empire Holding Corp. Both James and Empire can be found below:
https://casetext.com/case/fair-hous-ctr-of-cent-ind-inc-v-rainbow-realty-grp
https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/indiana/insdce/1:2017cv01782/74322/209/
Empire Holding Corp. is an Indiana based company – NOT a Florida company, and certainly NOT a Fort Myers Beach company. We have worked way too hard to rebuild our beach and our town to compromise on our ethics and our consideration for our neighbors. This is bad for our beach and bad for the residents.
This is not the location for something like this. A real brick-and-mortar building, similar to what was there before, would be much more reasonable for our town and our neighbors.
Good grief.
As BTR points out, the property is owned by Dan Myers; he and his family own four residential properties on FMB along with this commercial property.
Empire Holding is the trustee for a trust. Many families put holdings in a trust for various reasons.
You’re of course free to object to the proposal, but it’s nonsensical to object because their FMB properties have an Indiana trust as trustee. They lost all four homes to Ian and were, pre-storm, already planning for development on this property (as detailed by BTR).
One part of this commercial property was purchased in 2005 – over twenty years ago (the other was purchased in 2017). Looks like you’ve been unhappy for a long time about an “Indiana company” owning FMB property.
Do you have any friends?
While they’re at it, why not add a flea market? Sounds so cheesy to me.
I completely agree with you!
Why don’t they just turn the whole island into one big carnival? This is stupid!
This is not an acceptable concept for the residential neighborhood. A hodgepodge of transient trailers will reduce the value of our homes and private drives. Music & alcohol consumption will disturb the current residents’ quality of life.
You are spot on. All of the residents surrounding this proposed site are opposed to this. There was supposed to be a meeting between the developers and the residents and that never happened. Sounds shady to me
This is similar to the food truck parks in fort myers and Bonita.
What a great addition to a beach town!
A great idea if it is not in your backyard