‘Back to the drawing board’ for East Naples resort hotel

The plan for the construction of a destination resort hotel on an empty lot is being put on hold.

Here at WINK, we told you about the proposed Marriott and convention center in East Naples.

Last week, a Collier County commissioner told everyone that the development team is going back to the “drawing board.”

The entire project could be changed. The originally proposed hotel would’ve included a parking garage, spa and fitness center, restaurant and bar, shops and more, but Naples City Council is concerned about general redevelopment in this entire area.

“The project itself has run into some roadblocks, let’s just say,” said Commissioner Dan Kowal, Collier County, District 4.

Kowal said they will now go back to the drawing board.

“You can put a hotel up to 75 feet on that property by right, by state statute, but since it falls within the CRA, it has a special overlay for the development code, which limits it to 56 or 58 feet, I believe,” Kowal said.

The developer, a privately owned company based in Kentucky, originally proposed a 400,000-square-foot Marriott hotel with 438 rooms on a 4-acre site.

“That was expected to have a tremendous amount of traffic and be a pretty tall building that would be right on our doorstep,” said Naples City Council member Ted Blankenship. “That, along with the projects that are already underway in the Davis Triangle, are really concerning us about the traffic and parking issues that we’ll experience in the city.”

The property between Frederick and Palm streets currently sits vacant.

“I think they’re trying to find a solution that works for the developer that allows him to make good use of his property rights, but at the same time doesn’t cause problems for the neighborhood,” Blanketship said.

Naples City Council members, including Blankenship, expressed concerns about the height and density of the project, with the site sitting off U.S. 41 East, just outside of city limits.

“There are other properties in that area that are slated for redevelopment over the coming years, and we all just need to be very careful and on what is planned and what is built there that our infrastructure and our traffic systems can handle it,” Blankenship said.

Kowal said it could be another six to eight weeks before a different design and plan emerges,
and the county would require neighborhood and other informational meetings to happen all over again.