Suntex provides update on Fort Myers Yacht Basin makeover

The City of Fort Myers has promised that the Yacht Basin downtown will get a makeover, and the company running the show gave an update at the city council meeting.

Suntex updated the city council on their plan for the Fort Myers Yacht Basin, which has sat empty since Hurricane Ian.

After Hurricane Ian, abandoned boats sat in the water with a fence surrounding the area for months.

Now, that fence is still there, and the boats are gone, but it has a lot of potential.

Documents filed with the Department of Environmental Protection show that a big part of the building 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 Edward Drive, from Hendry Street to the Edison Bridge, will no longer be waterfront.

Fort Myers Mayor Kevin Anderson says this transformation will turn into a “world-class marina,” and despite it being different, he says people will be happy.

“This will really light up that section of downtown. That’s a section that’s been kind of out there on its own. So, it will bring more people to the waterfront and enhance the end of First Street. Which is good,” said Kevin Anderson, the City of Fort Myers Mayor.

WINK News reporter Sommer Senne listened in on the meeting, and she said that Eric Metts with Suntex said there’s been a lot of work behind the scenes to get the new marina ready for development.

The city owns the river, but since it involves water and environmental impacts, the Army Corps and Florida Department of Environmental Protection are involved, and those organizations aren’t known for moving quickly.

The site plan for the new marina stretches from Cleveland Avenue to the Edison Bridge.

Suntex said it spent six or seven months trying to get a notice from the Army Corps after submitting the development application.

Right now, the Corps is consulting with other agencies on the new marina’s environmental impact, specifically on the endangered smalltooth sawfish.

Until it’s done, Suntex and the city’s hands are tied.

Councilwoman Darla Bonk, with the Fort Myers City Council, said, “We are at the mercy collectively of FDEP as well as the Army Corps of Engineers on when and how we progress and move forward. So although we as the council have approved the project with you all, we’re really at the mercy timeline-wise of how and when we move forward based on the agencies.”

Suntex estimates that the Army Corps could take nine months to review the environmental impacts and consult with other agencies.

There are some parts of the project that the city can approve first.

Suntex hopes to have those plans submitted to the city by January or February.