More than two years after the project was announced, modified plans are advancing for the Beachwalk Compass by Margaritaville hotel in St. Johns County.
The county’s planning and zoning agency recommended approval Oct. 17 for changes to the project plans that raise the limit of hotel rooms.
Room count is planned to increase from 150 to 200, including 68 short-term stay cottages with up to six bedrooms.
The agency voted 5-2 for two required major modifications to the St. Johns County Twin Lakes Development of Regional Impact and Beachwalk Retail Center to allow for the changes. Agency members Henry Green, Greg Matovina, Meagan Perkins, Jack Peter and Elvis Pierre voted yes. Members Judy Spiegel and Richard Hilsenbeck voted no.
In addition to the cottages, a five-story boutique hotel is planned to have 132 rooms on the southwest end of Beachwalk’s Crystal Lagoon. According to project representative Ellen Avery-Smith of Rogers Towers, the cottages can either be owned by the hotel or sold individually. She said they will have a similar look and feel to the cottages at the Margaritaville Orlando Resort Hotel.
They cannot operate as timeshares or be occupied by the same person, family or group for more than three consecutive months. The hotel management company will oversee all cleaning, trash pickup, deliveries and landscaping regardless of ownership.
Beachwalk Retail Center LLC, a partnership between PEBB Enterprises and Falcone Group of Boca Raton, will develop the hotel and cottages. It owns the land.
In exchange for the increase in rooms, plans call for a reduction in commercial use in Beachwalk by 7,900 square feet to 1,002,236 square feet on the property off County Road 210 about 2 miles east of Interstate 95.
While the Falcone Group developed the Margaritaville in Orlando near Walt Disney World, it will be PEBB’s first ground-up hotel development. The 186-room Margaritaville Orlando Resort Hotel is being expanded by 75 rooms to accommodate demand.
The Orlando resort also has adjacent cottages and villas that can be purchased to as vacation rentals or residences.
PEBB Enterprises is a Boca Raton-based full-service private equity real estate investment company. The Falcone Group, also of Boca Raton, is a developer that has built projects throughout the nation for more than 40 years.
We could not have picked a better brand – and joint venture partner – for PEBB’s first ground-up hotel development,” PEBB President and CEO Ian Weiner says on pebbenterprises.com. “Our venture is confident that Margaritaville will become the preferred hotel option for visitors to St. Johns County and Jacksonville.”
According to Compasshotel.com, the hotel has locations open in Naples and Anna Maria Sound in Florida and in Medford, Oregon. Locations under development are in Flagler Beach; Beaufort, North Carolina; Myrtle Beach, South Carolina; and Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.
The St. Johns County Board of County Commissioners will vote on the changes to Margaritaville at an upcoming meeting.