Daytona Beach residents and business owners in the neighbors near the
construction site of the $192 million Protogroup hotel-condominium project
react to the developer’s request for a three-year extension for completion
of the South Tower.
DAYTONA BEACH — For residents and business owners in neighborhoods
nearby the $192 million Protogroup hotel-condominium project, a request by
the developer for a three-year extension to complete the unfinished South
Tower is generally unwelcome news.
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Traffic waits at the intersection of State Road A1A and Oakridge Boulevard as construction continues on the Protogroup hotel-condominium project. The developer is seeking a three-year extensionto complete the project's 27-story South Tower. |
At the same time, he acknowledged the importance of
finishing the project, the biggest and most expensive development in the
city’s history.
“We want to see this happen,” Henry said. “That has to be open. That’s a
gateway to our beach.”
The gathering will be held in the project’s parking garage at 501 N.
Atlantic Ave., according to a letter to neighborhood residents from Rob
Merrell, an attorney with Cobb Cole who represents the developer.
The site of the meeting, selected by the developer, also has sparked
criticism from neighborhood residents, who consider it a less than adequate
setting to discuss the issue.
“Are there any lights in that parking garage?” asked Bolc, adding that he
would be more likely to attend if the meeting were indoors. “In the darkness
and possible rain, I don’t know if I’m going to make it. I think it sends a
clear message: ‘We’re not interested in hearing from very many of you.’”
That also was the reaction from Weegie Kuendig, vice president of Save Our
Neighborhoods of Daytona Beach, a Seabreeze neighborhood resident and chair
of the city’s Code Enforcement Board.
“My facetious question is, ‘Will we have to pay for parking?’” Kuendig said.
“I’m not happy that it (the extension request) is happening at all. They (Protogroup)
have been given every opportunity, given so many changes from our code.
“Now they’re asking for even more changes again and we don’t know what the
reasons for those changes are,” Kuendig said. “It indicates to me that there
isn’t much done inside the building yet.”
Her concerns about darkness go beyond the meeting site, she said.
“Nobody really knows what’s going on with the project,” she said. “So
everybody feels like they’re in the dark and that’s not a good thing.”
About the meeting
Alexey Lysich, the Russian-born vice president of Protogroup, apparently
won’t be in attendance to help shed light on the progress.
Lysich didn’t respond to The News-Journal’s inquiry about whether he would
attend. Craig Stephen Greene, president of Gryffin Construction, referred
that same question to Lysich.
Reached by email, Merrell said that he would be at the meeting to represent
the developer, accompanied by his paralegal Debi LaCroix.
“I’ll let you know if anyone else plans to be there with me,” Merrell said.
As for the meeting place, it was selected by the developer, based on
requirements in the city’s Land Development Code, said Susan Cerbone, city
spokeswoman. The code requires such meetings to take place at a site within
the city that is “convenient and accessible” to neighbors in close proximity
to the project, Cerbone said.
To meet the requirements of the developer’s current agreement with the city,
construction of the project’s 27-story South Tower is supposed to be
“substantially complete” by Jan. 28, 2020. Yet, it still appears that
substantial work remains to be done on the south tower.
Protogroup has turned down News-Journal requests to tour the site.
The new proposed agreement with the city, which Merrell prepared, would
extend the latest deadline three additional years from its eventual
effective date, meaning the south tower would not be completed until 2023.
Construction on the project began in 2017.
“I don’t even know why they built it,” said Vera Cooper, 68, another nearby
resident who lives on Butler Boulevard, only a few blocks from the
construction site. “They can’t even fill up the hotels they have now. Why
not build something that the people on vacation can use? Like an attraction.
“When it rains here what do you do? You sit in your hotel.”
Other changes contained in the proposed new agreement include a reduction
from 501 to 459 hotel rooms as well as a corresponding increase from 122 to
164 condominium units in the south tower. The proposed agreement also would
extend the deadline for a planned north tower to 2024.
‘What’s the alternative?’
Tuesday’s neighborhood meeting is a required step in getting the city to
approve the proposed new agreement, which qualifies as a rezoning of the
property, Cerbone said.
Next, the proposed amendment must go to the city’s Redevelopment Board and
then the Planning Board for review and recommendation, Cerbone said. At that
point, the proposed changes would go for two readings before the City
Commission, before commissioners vote on the item, she said.
Cerbone said that the item likely would be presented to the Commission
“sometime in the spring.”
For some nearby business owners, the prospect of an extension also was
unhappy news.
“It’s terrible, but what’s the alternative?” said Kevin Gelnaw, owner of the
landmark Starlite Diner, a block south of the construction site on State
Road A1A. “Here I thought we were getting close to the end of the rainbow.
This will impact beach businesses at a time when we don’t really need that.”
Gelnaw also was disappointed that the developer wasn’t expected to be at the
neighborhood meeting.
“The attorney has a set thing he can say, a couple of stock answers, and I
don’t know that it gets to bottom of things, as opposed to hearing from an
owner or director of the business,” he said.
At the 87-room Daytona Beach Regency, next door just to the south of the
construction site, the outlook is more optimistic, said John Betros, general
manager.
“I’m still seeing them out there working,” Betros said of construction
crews. “They are covering cars in our parking lot to avoid getting any paint
and stucco on them. They are out here every day. What the owner’s
relationship is to the city, I don’t know. Boots on the ground, I’m seeing
work every day.”