After years of setbacks, key piece of South Seas redevelopment can begin

Just a day shy of the one-year anniversary of new owners closing on the purchase of the South Seas resort on Captiva in 2022, Hurricane Ian barreled across Southwest Florida, leaving unprecedented wreckage.

The South Seas, which sits on the northern tip of the Lee County barrier island between Pine Island Sound and the gulf, was not immune.

It suffered major damage to its structures and, because of changes to flood zones and other requirements in the aftermath of the storm, forced the new ownership group to reassess its plans for the historic property.

Both that storm and subsequent hurricanes — combined with complaints about its revised plans from residents — set the redevelopment of the South Seas back.

But after the Lee County Commission approved a rezoning request Aug. 6, the owners of the project can begin work on building the hotel portion of the project — 435 hotel rooms across two properties — and the residential component, which is 193 multifamily units.

The vote was 3-1. Chairman Kevin Ruane, who represents District 1, opposed and Commissioner David Mulicka, who represents District 3, was absent.

“We're years behind schedule,” Greg Spencer, president of South Seas Ownership Group and CEO of Timbers Co., said in an interview the day after the commission approved the rezoning.

“The earliest, and look, we'll see what happens with the appeals, but the earliest will be able to probably realistically get something open is 2028.”

The appeals he’s referring to is a promised challenge to the commission’s decision from a group of residents opposed to the new ownership’s plans for the hotel and residences.

In an email the day after the commission voted to approve the rezoning, Protect Captiva says it will appeal the decision within the next 30 days. It cites what it calls, “procedural and substantive issues” with the decision, including charges that the commission “ignored the public’s testimony about public safety, traffic and evacuation concerns, environmental impacts and the inadequate capacity of the sewer plant at South Seas to process increased wastewater.”

Spencer declines to address the specifics of the appeals threat, saying “I don't want to litigate this in the public. I want to let the judges determine it.”

“Any answer I give you can be construed 15 different ways. But the bottom line is, we are focused on moving forward, both for the island as well as South Seas.”

The zoning moves 120.5-acres of the property from residential multifamily, marine commercial and two-family conservation to mixed-use planned development, according to an agenda for the public hearing.

The change, says Spencer, allows South Seas to build back the hotel to what it was before Ian.

The issue is 52 days after Ian, new flood zones went into effect. That meant the buildings would have to be moved further inland, to higher ground. To meet the existing zoning requirements at the time would have meant losing about a story and half.

“That was the crux of it,” Spencer says.

“Our old zoning, some of which goes back to 1947, had us measured at grade. It didn't make any allowances for flood. It didn't make any allowances for all the different — there's a federal laws, there's state laws, there's local laws — ways how you measure a flood zone.”

Spencer says with the rezoning approved, work can move forward, starting with the submission of plans and permit applications needed before physical construction begins.

The next six months will also be dedicated to getting the grid and utility work done, as well as the site work. The goal is to be ready to go vertical once permitting is in place.

Normally, says Spencer, site work would be done along with construction once approvals are in place but given all the delays “we are trying to accelerate certain components of it.”

The South Seas resort property is owned by WS SSIR Holdings, a joint ownership group that includes Timbers Co, Wheelock Street Capital and The Ronto Group. The partnership bought the 330-acre South Seas Island Resort (as it was then known) in 2021 for $50.38 million.

Timbers resorts division owns luxury properties similar to what it plans at South Seas in Vail, Colorado, Kauai, Hawaii and Tuscany, Italy.

Photo by Stefania Pifferi

The deal for the resort famously closed 364 days before Ian hit and destroyed or heavily damaged 22 support structures, including the Harborside Hotel, housekeeping facilities, offices, tennis courts and maintenance facilities.

Despite the setbacks caused by the zoning fight and the storms, work has continued on other portions of the redevelopment, portions that didn’t need the regulatory approvals.

Over Memorial Day weekend in May, South Seas unveiled several of the new amenities: upgraded dining options, renovated pools, beach services, fitness amenities and The Clutch Golf Course and the Shops at South Seas.

A new restaurant, the Beach House, will open in October and a new waterpark at the entrance of the property is scheduled to open later this year.

As for the finished product and how it will be accepted by locals and visitors when it is completed in the coming years, Spencer is cautiously optimistic time will allay the concerns.

“I think people are going to see, when you see what these products look like, that it's not a skyscraper. It’s going to be very thoughtful in design and it will fit with the place.”