DAYTONA BEACH — The city government has purchased a piece of oceanfront property that’s going to help it pursue the type of redevelopment it wants just south of the Daytona Beach Pier.
At their meeting Wednesday June 18, city commissioners voted to buy a vacant half-acre parcel between Harvey Avenue and Breakers Oceanfront Park for $2.2 million.
Buying the sandy lot at 29 S. Ocean Ave. will make it easier for the city to move ahead on its plans to extend the Boardwalk to Harvey Avenue, accommodate a new Señor Frog’s restaurant on an adjacent lot, and spur development of a new hotel on the land.
“If we can acquire this property, the city will have control of all the parcels along the beach, which will facilitate the construction of the new Boardwalk from Breakers Park to Harvey Avenue,” city Redevelopment Project Manager Angela Armstrong wrote in a March 10 memo to the city manager. “Also, there have been conversations that Señor Frog’s management, if the development goes well, will entertain the construction of a boutique hotel on the subject lot.”
Eight or nine years ago, the property owner, Orlando developer Avista Properties, wanted to put a hotel on the prime oceanfront land and the company was working with the city on that. Avista Properties wanted the city to help pay for construction of a new hotel on its Daytona Beach site, but the deal fell through.
Now Avista just wants to sell the land, Armstrong told commissioners Wednesday night. Before commissioners voted, City Manager Deric Feacher cautioned them that if the city of Daytona didn’t buy the property, someone else probably would.
The owner wanted $2.5 million for the land, despite it being appraised in March at $2.1 million.
Six of the seven city commissioners voted to buy it for $2.2 million. Only City Commissioner Monica Paris voted no.
Daytona Beach Boardwalk getting extension
The Boardwalk currently stretches from just north of the Bandshell to Breakers Oceanfront Park. The new addition will extend the Boardwalk down to Harvey Avenue.
Work hasn’t started yet on the Boardwalk extension, so there’s nothing to see for now. But once the Boardwalk reaches farther to the south, it will be a significant change to the area’s landscape.
With a Señor Frog’s restaurant coming to the northeast corner of Ocean and Harvey avenues, the city has decided to extend the Boardwalk and seawall approximately 295 feet from Breakers Oceanfront Park to Harvey Avenue.
The extended Boardwalk will provide a pedestrian connection once Señor Frog’s is built, and it will improve access from the south to the Boardwalk, pier, Breakers Park and Ocean Walk Shoppes.
In April, city commissioners approved paying Dredging & Marine Consultants of Port Orange $170,237 for design, permitting, bidding assistance, and construction administration services to extend the existing seawall and Boardwalk to Harvey Avenue.
The design will include the needed survey, geotechnical investigations, environmental assessments, regulatory permitting, permit/construction plans, and technical specifications to construct the seawall and Boardwalk.
Construction has not been approved yet, so there is no timeframe or cost estimate for the work.
City staff is hoping the extended Boardwalk, new restaurant and possibly a new hotel will spur even more new development.
You can reach Eileen at Eileen.Zaffiro@news-jrnl.com
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Daytona city government buys oceanfront land for $2.2M hoping to entice new boutique hotel
Reporting by Eileen Zaffiro-Kean, Daytona Beach News-Journal / The Daytona Beach News-Journal
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