Restaurateurs sail into yacht club

FORT MYERS — Investors that include the owners of Pinchers Crab Shack restaurants acquired the former Royal Palm Yacht Club for their 10th restaurant. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The two-story building near downtown Fort Myers on the Caloosahatchee River will include a Pinchers Crab Shack seafood restaurant on the second floor and space for private events on the first floor. Diners will be able to dock their boats for free at the property's 45-slip marina when they visit.

The property will be renamed the Marina at Edison Ford because of its proximity to the Edison & Ford Winter Estates and is expected to open in February. It is located at 2360 W. First St. in Fort Myers, or Marker 54 on the river.

“We are extremely excited about this project,” says Grant Phelan, co-owner of Pinchers, in a statement. “Not only will this be the 10th location for Pinchers and an exciting collaboration with the Winter Estates, but we will have an entire floor dedicated to catering and events and operate the marina below for group boat-ins and yacht clubs — a true waterfront dining experience.”

In operation for more than six decades, the yacht club was once considered a hub of social life of affluent residents of Fort Myers. In recent years its membership has dwindled as development moved further south and east and it was forced to sell the property.