Margaritaville Fort Myers Beach Topping Off Ceremony

From Fort Myers Beach Talk: “Topping off Margaritaville – Developers expect resort to open by end of the year“

When the Town of Fort Myers Beach Council approved Margaritaville five years ago, its supporters hoped the resort would revitalize a part of downtown hit hard by Hurricane Charley more than a dozen years earlier. Now those same supporters hope Margaritaville and its developers TPI will help get the town back on its feet after the utter devastation of Hurricane Ian.

At a ceremony held Friday near the Waistina Way (like the Jimmy Buffet song “Margaritaville”) beach access which the developers gave the town along with a new parking lot in exchange for its Canal St. beach access, TPI celebrated construction on its Margaritaville buildings being completed on the top floor.

TPI Chief Operating Officer Robert Kisabeth, standing near the side of the beach where a pool and beach club will be situated for the resort, vowed the construction would be “done by the end of the year, no question.”

The shell of the building, grounded in cement, is largely all there though there is still much work to be done. That imposing, three-story high solid grey cement, which engineered opposition from those who preferred the town’s old cottage look, is what saved the structure from Hurricane Ian. The survival of the building has given the developers enough confidence to continue to bet on Fort Myers Beach by recently purchasing the nearby Silver Sands property for $7.1 million to expand the Margaritaville site. The expansion at the Silver Sands site could happen in 2025, according to the company.

Kisabeth credited DeAngelis Diamond, the chief contractor for Margaritaville’s construction, with the sturdiness of the buildings and for getting the construction going again after Hurricane Ian. “They have really done a really outstanding job getting everything cleaned up and back into reconstruction,” Kisabeth said. “Sheetrock is going in as we speak, plumbing, electric, you name it.”

So exactly when will Margaritaville open?

“I am here to tell you, profoundly, that we don’t know,” Kisabeth said at the topping-off ceremony Friday. “The good news is everyone knows supply chain is an issue across the country. It’s no different for us.” Kisabeth said the furniture, equipment and fixture are in storage and ready to go. “The biggest thing is really the electric, copper, door frames, sliding doors and the construction materials lost in the hurricane,” he said.

“The structure was completely intact,” Kisabeth said of the impact from Hurricane Ian. Kisabeth said electric material, lights and foam for the roof were washed away and lost in the storm and need to be replaced.

“We’re in real good shape. DeAngelis Diamond has really doubled their efforts in the building,” Kisabeth said. On Friday, they were working on the floor of the parking garage on the other side of the street.