The owners of the Wyndham have started the process to knock down the 3 resort buildings on Estero Boulevard that had not been touched since Hurricane Ian over 2 years ago. Watco Construction is doing the demo work. They are expected to hammer the buildings down in about 20 days after they receive an asbestos report.
The town gave the property owner 30 days to start the demo work back on December 16th or the town would have knocked the buildings down and charged the property owner for the work.
In a perfect world, and depending on Estero Boulevard traffic, once the buildings get an all-clear on the asbestos report, demolishing the three buildings and cleaning up the lot should take about 6-8 weeks.
The future of the property is unknown. It will most likely be sold. The Wyndham property is not owned by a big corporation. It is owned by Burt Pohlmann. His son-in-law John Callis is now overseeing the property.
The town red-tagged the building over 3 months ago and nothing had been done to clean up the property. After much cajoling, nearly 2 years after Hurricane Ian the owners finally put a fence around the buildings. The Wyndham has been one of the most talked about untouched properties on Fort Myers Beach, along with Terry Persaud’s property in Times Square and the Junkanoo building on Estero Boulevard.
Work started on the building last week. Items in each of the hotel rooms were being pulled out of those rooms and separated in the parking lot by the contractor. When a building is being demolished certain items must be separated and taken to different landfills.
On Sunday the Mayor asked residents in the area to not use the Wyndham parking lot as a beach access as they would be walking through an active construction area.
Watco Construction received a demo permit for The Wyndham back on November 25th to remove the 3 buildings and the pool. On December 16th, at a Town Council meeting, Operations and Compliance Manager Frankie Kropcaek said the owner had 30 days to clean up the property or the town will take care of it for them. “If they don’t act within 30 days, the town will.”
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