Owner Steve Boge plans to open two new restaurants in the building that was the Beach Theater for decades before he purchased it just before Hurricane Ian. In a perfect world Boge hopes to be open toward the end of the upcoming season.
On Monday the Town Council approved the project. The LPA approved it back in June. Both restaurants will serve lunch and dinner when they open.
The Town Council and LPA were mostly concerned with 2 things about the project; parking and the disruption into the residential neighborhood from outdoor music, crowd noise, and stray parkers.
The 6425 Estero Boulevard property is very close to Egret and Curlew streets. In addition to a concern about outdoor music, residents do not want customers parking on their streets in front of their homes. Egret street residents Christine and John Madden spoke out against the project Monday. They said the change will be a detriment to their low-density neighborhood. Town Council approval included outdoor music ending by 9PM and no parking signs installed on Egret and Curlew.
You may have noticed a new dock at that location. It will not be open to the general public to boat in to use the restaurants. The dock will be used by the owners of the property only.
There was a big concession made on parking. Town code requires 115 spaces for the use Boge plans to convert it to. The Town Council approved a special exception to allow him to operate with only 33 parking spaces at the property. Mayor Dan Allers voted against granting the parking special exception.
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. He’s also looking into possibly renting spots after hours at the new Town Hall building just up the street. And he plans to stack cars in the current parking lot. Not stacked in the air but in front of one another by the valet company. If the Dolphin Inn property, which is for sale, does sell, Boge has to come back to the town with an alternative valet parking plan.
Boge plans to redevelop the property as an open-air restaurant and bar with outdoor games and entertainment on the ground level under the existing building. That area was used for parking when the building was a theater. He plans to call the ground floor restaurant Boardwalk Grill. The second floor will be a yet-to-be-named Steakhouse. Boge said Monday he’s still looking at possible options to show movies but could not commit to that at this time.
Boge expects permitting to take 2-3 months and another 6 months to complete the build. The plan would be to open toward the end of 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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“The 6425 Estero Boulevard property is very close to Egret and Curlew streets. In addition to a concern about outdoor music, residents do not want customers parking on their streets in front of their homes. Egret street residents Christine and John Madden spoke out against the project Monday.”
GOOD LUCK Christine and John. Many Pelican Watch owners along with some other neighbors did not want the food truck area for the same reason. But council gave them their blessing to go ahead with the project, even though it’s in a residential neighborhood. 🥴
Time to get over the mangroves. South end is desperate for dining, and we can’t wait!!
Who care about a stupid mangrove. Did it save anything during Ian? Nope. What about the mangroves bulldozed to build your home next to the theater? Practice what you preach. Plant your property back to what it was before anyone was there. Otherwise, you are the problem also.