Developer withdraws Fort Myers Beach waterfront development agreement after council scrutiny

A proposed development agreement for two waterfront parcels at 1028 and 1046 Estero Boulevard was withdrawn by the applicant late in Tuesday’s meeting after a multi-hour council hearing featuring sharp questions about building height, floor-area ratio, parking and the public benefits offered in exchange for extra density.

Attorney Joe Madden and applicant representatives described a mixed-use redevelopment that would have included roughly 15,800 square feet of commercial space and a 31-room boutique hotel, a rooftop terrace and beach-front public amenities. Planner Patrick Viness and architect Tyler Peterson walked council through renderings and a master concept plan that showed a two-story structure with a roof-level terrace and a private ground-level parking area using car stackers; the applicant proposed to exclude the ground-level covered parking from the FAR calculation and to use an equivalency factor to convert residential density credits into hotel rooms.

Town staff and several council members pressed the team on multiple points: whether rooftop enclosed spaces should count to height, the FAR that would result if covered ground-level parking were included, and how much the project depended on the hotel rooms to make the restaurant and rooftop venue financially viable. Professor Michael Collins of FGCU testified about hotel economics and argued that hotel rooms can be essential to supporting food-and-beverage venues in seasonal markets.

Councilors expressed concerns about (1) a request to increase the allowable height to accommodate an enclosed elevator/stair/kitchen volume topped by a rooftop restaurant (the development would have increased the structure’s maximum above-base-flood elevation to 38 ft 8 in), (2) a proposed FAR rising above the downtown baseline if ground-level parking were included, and (3) the scale of the requested increase in hotel units—applicants said the zoning math converts to about 31 hotel units from a base entitlement of 9.

Several council members and residents urged the applicant to return to the Local Planning Agency for further review and public vetting. After an extended council exchange, the applicant’s attorney offered to withdraw the application and return to LPA for additional work; the applicant then executed a formal withdrawal at the meeting.

Town staff said the withdrawal clears the way for an applicant re-submittal; staff also recommended the applicant work with the town on added public benefits (lighting of a proposed pedestrian connector between the base of Matanzas Bridge and the downtown pedestrian plaza, ADA access and a public restroom resource at grade) as part of a revised submission. The applicant indicated willingness to follow that path and the council closed the hearing without voting on the withdrawn application.

The applicant said it will return to the LPA with revised plans and that the team remains open to negotiating a final development agreement that addresses the council and neighborhood concerns about height, public access and parking.