From a clam factory to a manufactured home community, less than two acres of prime waterfront in Marco Island is proposed for development into a small resort and marina.
Global Investment Properties LLC and Unionville Sportsman Club Inc. and Kyle Smith are listed as the buyers in Collier County property records. The entities purchased Marco Island Trailer Park and its docks, also known as the Doxsee properties, for $16 million and a contiguous property for $2 million in April 2023. That same year, Global Investment Properties bought a house on Sun Drop Court for $1.6 million.
Smith is a founder and principal at Tailwind Group, based in Mankato, MN. Global Investment and Unionville Sportsman Club are both registered in Florida’s SunBiz with Tod Quiring of Windon, MN, as the title manager.
Proposed for the property located next to Snook Inn on Bald Eagle Drive in Olde Marco are a five-story hotel, two restaurants with an estimated 150 seats each, a board walk and marina ship store on the ground floor, a marina with 40 boat slips, retail shops and a parking garage.
Nothing is definite.
“We have only reviewed the first submittal,” Daniel Smith, the city’s director of community affairs, told Naples Daily News in an email. “There is no timeline for when this goes to the Planning Board.”
Manufactured-home park is no more
The mobile home park recently was demolished to prepare for what’s to come. Sitting on the Marco River, the homes had one of the best views around, and docks with direct access to the Gulf. Ownership at the time of the purchase was a co-op of the 16 property owners.
According to plans submitted for review to the City of Marco Island, MHK Architecture is designing the project. Bowman consulting also is working on the project and created the site plan submitted to the city.
The developers and MHK held a neighborhood information meeting before any city staff discussions, an unusual move. The size of the project surprised some neighbors who say the one road into and out of Olde Marco already is overcrowded.
What’s the history of Port Marco
Doxsee Clam Factory, opened in 1911 as the second such on Marco, and at its peak employed 75 to 100 people, according to Marco Island Historical Society. James Harvey (J.H.) Doxsee II opened the cannery on Marco, where the company harvested and canned hard clams until 1947, according to DoxseeLegend.com
With the decline of clams in the area, the factory closed in 1947. Doxsee opened the trailer park on the former site. The property was sold after Hurricane Donna blew through in 1960.
A post shared by Marco Island Historical Society (@themihs)
Who are the developers?
According to its website, Tailwind, was founded in 2005 by four partners, two of whom were working as corporate airline pilots. They started with fulfilling a need for student housing at colleges and universities.
Their first ten years in development and operations were focused in Mankato, MN — where the corporate headquarters remain. After 2015, the Tailwind Group portfolio began to expand outside of southern Minnesota.
The company’s website shows mostly student housing projects, along with some properties for sale and for lease. A call and email to Tailwind’s Smith were not returned.
More: Now You Know: New Spring, Summer slate at the Arts Center Theatre
And: Invasive eats: Dining on lionfish, other nuisance species
Also: Now You Know: ‘Landmark sale’ for waterfront villa
This article originally appeared on Marco Eagle: Olde Marco: Clam factory turned trailer park might become hotel and marina
Reporting by J. Kyle Foster, Naples Daily News / Marco Eagle
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
