A rendering shows the approved six-story, 60-room One Particular Harbour hotel planned for the former Silver Sands property at 1207 Estero Blvd. on Fort Myers Beach. The project includes a rooftop pool, retail space and access to amenities at neighboring Margaritaville Beach Resort.
At back-to-back public hearings Sept. 9, Fort Myers Beach Town Council gave final approval for developers to rebuild on the sites of two hospitality-industry properties that were destroyed by Hurricane Ian in 2022.
One hearing addressed the former Wyndham hotel property on the south end of Estero Island in the Santini Marina area. Council adopted plans that include a quick-start family entertainment area with an outdoor bar, mobile vendors and other recreational uses, but no new hotel rooms.
A following public hearing focused on the former Silver Sands property on the north end of the island in the Times Square entertainment district. There, Council approved a proposal by Margaritaville developer TPI Hospitality to redevelop its neighboring property, the former Silver Sands cottages. It features a six-story boutique hotel that was recently renamed from Silver Sands Resort to One Particular Harbour.
An aerial image shows the former Wyndham Garden hotel property at 6890 Estero Blvd. on the south end of Fort Myers Beach. Town Council approved a two-phase redevelopment plan for the 11.2-acre property.
Estero Island South: Wyndham
The 1969 building at 6890 Estero Blvd., which housed a Holiday Inn and finally a Wyndham Garden hotel, was irreparably damaged by Ian and later demolished.
While there are no current plans to rebuild a hotel, developer FMBH LLC is set to carry out a two-phase plan for the property under a home rule development agreement, which doesn’t require approval from state officials.
Town Council voted 4-0 to approve the plans at the second and final adoption hearing Sept. 9. Councilor John McLean was excused from the meeting.
The town’s Local Planning Agency also previously approved the proposal.
Representatives for FMBH LLC, owned by the Naples-based Pohlmann family trust, said they plan to move forward with the first phase as quickly as possible. That includes a beach recreation area with an open-air tiki bar, temporary mobile food vendors, live entertainment, water sports activities or rentals and parking. It is set to operate from 7 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., with amplified sound allowed between noon and 9 p.m.
The first phase of redevelopment at the former Wyndham Garden hotel property calls for a beach recreation area with an open-air tiki bar, mobile food vendors, entertainment, water sports activities and parking.
It is not clear how long it will take to complete the second phase, an attorney for the developers said. The process involves the design, permitting and construction of a wave dissipation wall and an official flood map revision that allows construction of permanent flood-proof structures on the site.
Phase two includes a permanent restaurant structure and new recreational amenities, including a pool with a lazy river feature.
The site remains in the Commercial Resort zoning district, and while the property owners told Fort Myers Beach officials that rebuilding a hotel or resort is the “highest and best use” of the property, they do not consider that financially viable at this time.
The 11.2-acre property includes close to 3.8 developable acres that are landward of the Coastal Construction Control Line.
A rendering shows the Estero Boulevard frontage of One Particular Harbour, a six-story boutique hotel approved for the former Silver Sands property near Times Square on Fort Myers Beach.
Estero Island North: One Particular Harbour
The former Silver Sands cottages at 1207 Estero Blvd. no longer exist, with a larger boutique hotel set to take their place.
At the second and final adoption hearing Sept. 9, Town Council voted 3-0 to approve TPI Hospitality’s plan for a six-story, 60-unit resort on the three-quarter-acre property.
Mayor Dan Allers recused himself from the discussion and vote because of a business relationship with TPI, and Councilor McLean was excused from the meeting.
The LPA also previously approved the plan.
The new resort, One Particular Harbour, is designed to share amenities with neighboring Margaritaville Beach Resort, which opened in 2023. They also share the same developer, Minnesota-based TPI Hospitality.
One Particular Harbour represents a 173% increase in rooms from the previous set of cottages built in 1921. It is also approved for roughly double the 30-foot height limit called for by current development guidelines.
A town staff report found that the proposal aligns with the island’s taller, denser post-Ian developments, such as Margaritaville, Lighthouse Resort and Arches Bayfront Hotel.
The town’s Local Planning Agency in June recommended approval of the proposal and its deviations from development code, including increasing the height limit and reducing parking requirements.
The site is set to be rezoned from its Downtown designation to a Commercial Planned Development to accommodate the changes.
Along with the hotel, plans call for 2,500 square feet of retail space, 51 on-site parking spaces, a rooftop pool, streetscape improvements and guest access to Margaritaville.
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