One year ago Moss Marina owner Ben Freeland saw the writing on the wall and pulled The Arches redevelopment project before it could be rejected. He went back to the drawing board, hired The Neighborhood Company, knocked off 140 rooms, and got one of two approvals he needs to proceed.
On Tuesday the Fort Myers Beach Local Planning Agency unanimously approved The Arches, a complete makeover of the 5 acres of property the Freeland family has owned for decades as a marina with big boat barn buildings. During his lengthy presentation, Neighborhood Company Partner Patrick Vanasse said, “This project will revitalize our downtown. This will signal to everyone that Fort Myers Beach is back and thriving.”
The 10 parcels of property is adjacent to Snug Harbor restaurant. In 2024 this same LPA voted to deny the project because Freeland was only asking for a Future Land Use Map Amendment and believed the project was just too big. They wanted to see the entire package presented and that’s what they saw this week.
The original Arches redevelopment of the Moss Marina property included 3 resort structures totalling 400 rooms, a marina, restaurants and other retail. The downsized project still includes 3 buildings but now totals 263 rooms. The buildings are 5,6, and 7 stories high between 58 and 81 feet high. Fort Myers Beach is only at 50% of its pre-Ian hotel room total. If the town expects to get anywhere near where they were before the hurricane it will all have to come from new builds…