Continental Hospitality Group took a lot of grief for not cleaning up their property at 2316/2320 Estero Boulevard, but in the end they received unanimous approval for their new 6-story 148-unit resort. The project now moves onto the Fort Myers Beach Town Council for the first of two public hearings, on December 2nd.
Continental Hospitality Group’s Adam Valente told the LPA the reason the building has not yet been demolished has to do with their current bank. The lender did not want them tearing down the building without knowing what the future of the property would be. Of course that had nothing to do with how the property was maintained. LPA member Jane Plummer said there were homeless people living in the building, wires hanging out of the rooms and the pool was filled with old water and unsecured. LPA Chair Anita Cereceda said the building was the most complained about building on Fort Myers Beach. “The condition that building has been in is pretty insulting”
Valente said he expects to have permission from the bank by Thanksgiving to demo the building and it should be down some time in the first quarter of 2025
If approved by the Town Council the new Neptune Resort will have 148 units and a restaurant and tiki bar open to the public on the beach. The 148 units was 8 more than originally requested. Valeneti said the reality is, “We have a $15 million insurance hole we need to fill.” He also mentioned the increased construction costs and borrowing costs as a factor to make the bigger ask from the town.
The original Neptune, which The Continental Hospitality Group purchased one year before Hurricane Ian, had 71 units and no restaurant.
The new resort would be 4 stories of hotel space over 2 levels of parking. The original building was 2-3 stories.
The height of the building will be 51 feet from base flood elevation. The proposed development will be a total of 129,925 square feet. There are two access points on Estero Blvd and one point of only egress from Delmar. The proposal includes 164 parking spaces plus an additional 16 that would be deeded over to the town as public benefit. Those parking spaces could generate $350,000 in parking revenue for the town.
The Neptune team, which included the Neighborhood Company’s Patrick Vanasse and Ken Gallander, estimated the economic impact from the new resort would be somewhere between $63 million and $180 million per year to the local area. Vanasse, who is a 20-year Fort Myers Beach resident and served on the LPA for 8 years, said the town has had a bit of a shift in attitude. “Allowing some additional height with public benefits may not be as much of a concern. More density is needed to expedite rebuilding. We have presented a basket of benefits. Your job is to weigh that basket of benefits which we believe justifies the ask”
Here’s a list of some of the public benefits The Neptune team included in their proposal.
Chair Anita Cereceda said she has liked this project from the first time she saw it. “It’s too high and it’s too dense. You’ve done a tremendous job to make it palatable to Fort Myers Beach.” Cereceda added, “If anyone thinks I’m turning my back on Fort Myers Beach come see me.”
The final LPA vote was 5-0 in favor with two members absent for the vote.
One person spoke in opposition to the project and that was because of the upkeep of the current building.
If the Town Council approves the project, following two public hearings in December, it will take about 6 months to get all the needed permits then about 2 years to build.
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First I’d like to say the building is one that I thought was close to the old size but remember everything must be 16 feet above ground on beach side so to park their guest 2 floors seems fine but 2 more floors should have been best. Who did the math on the tow making $350 K from gifted parking?.?
More parking spaces and more rooms only means more Traffic, that is all. Tourists are going to stop coming when they realize that they can’t get off the island within two hours to go to dinner or visit Sanibel, downtown, etc. It’s going to be years before everything is rebuilt and the construction crews are just going to increase. As it is, I have been sitting in traffic to go to work in the evening and it isn’t even high season yet. I would love to see something from the Council that says they are knowledgeable about how all this is going to affect the infrastructure and how they are going to deal with it. Letting these corporations take over the island and then wondering why everything collapses in the near future is not a way to council.
Anita C. seems to be running the show and has the power to make all decisions. I live in Michigan so despite her invitation I can not go to see her. What is her email address?
Does FMB have the sewers, water, fire protection and police , storm water management to accommodate all this increase in population . We know the road can not accommodate more but can the public services accommodate more????? Flushing toilets, water pressure are things to consider
Lol Public benefits:
Uh, we’ll build a restaurant that we’ll make money from, we’ll landscape our building, and we’ll give you spaces for 16 more cars nobody wants sitting on Estero for 2+ hours
We like the additional restaurant.
What public benefit? 16 parking spaces for the town to generate income and a restaurant accessible to the public for them to generate more income from the residents off season. I can’t go nay further north than Publix during season bc of the traffic. Why are they being allowed to double their rooms.
Well said!
Of course, were you expecting to personally receive a check for the money the 16 parking spaces generate?
Lovely. All of it. Now others need to follow suit with what they propose. They did not overpay for the property, they owned it! Anyone who has built understands the costs associated with building even just a house. To rebuild, they need to make it profitable and that 15 million dollar hole with Insurance is another validation. Congratulations on a project well done.
How is FMB going to handle the infrastructure if projects continue to propose increased density and intensity? Double the rooms, double density and double intensity that I do not see public benefit to the same magnitude. Better hurry on impact fees because FMB is going to need it.
Beautiful, absolutely Beautiful 🤩
See how easy this is….
You can follow the rules and have a place
EVERYBODY can be proud of and enjoy.
This and Margaritaville are templates that should be installed to all , this is your template to work from.
I do notice they have the pool elevated.
Smart🤔
Shows that you can learn from previous builds…😊
“instilled” ^^^^
It is a beautiful building. My only issue is the increased number of units.
Otherwise Bravo!