Moving forward with plans for the Suntex Marina

The Fort Myers yacht basin sits empty right now. It’s been that way since Hurricane Ian hit.

But even before Ian, plans have been in the works to transform it into what Mayor Kevin Anderson calls a “World class marina.”

“This will really light up that section of downtown,” Anderson said. “That’s a section that’s been kind of out there on its own. So it will bring more people to the waterfront; it will also enhance that end of First Street as well, which is good.”

Documents recently filed with the DEP show that a big part of building that marina will be filling in multiple acres of the existing marina to build a whole new one further out into the Caloosahatchee River.

That means some waterfront parts of Edwards Drive, from Hendry Street to the Edison bridge, will no longer be waterfront.

Anderson said this will allow for more boats and bigger ones to make a stop downtown.

“It’s exciting to see that it calls for going from 250 slips to 450 slips and allowing for the larger boats to be able to come in,” said Anderson.

While the plans may be a shock to some, Anderson said the city always understood something like this could be part of the vision.

“The initial bid was to develop in and around the basin and bring it up. So this was, while it may not have been specifically talked about doing this? This came as no surprise to me,” said Anderson.

And to those who might be alarmed by the dramatic change to our waterfront?

“When they see the completed project, they’re going to be happy,” said Anderson. “Excited is an understatement. I’m thrilled.”

WINK News reporter Taylor Wirtz did contact a representative from Suntex, who is working on getting more information on the company’s decision to fill in the space.