Planning Board Approves Walker’s Cay Condo Hotel and Marina

The Marco Island Planning Board approved plans Friday for a 45-unit condo hotel and 45-slip marina at the former Walker’s Cay property, clearing the way for the long-considered redevelopment of the waterfront site near Goodland.

The board voted 4-1 to approve the site development plan for the 1.93-acre property at 3200 San Marco Road. Because the proposal did not require any variances, conditional-use permits, or boat-dock extensions, the Planning Board’s action is final unless it is appealed at the level of City Council.

The project includes a seven-story building with five floors of hotel units above two levels of parking, a restaurant, bar, salon, and marina. The building will reach the maximum permitted height of 75 feet, measured from the base flood elevation. Plans provide 125 parking spaces, three more than required.

The property is unusual because it is specifically addressed in the city’s Comprehensive Plan, which allows commercial development on the site but prohibits residential use. City staff initially determined that a condo hotel constituted a residential use. The applicant appealed that interpretation to the City Council, which voted 5-2 in February 2023 to allow the condo hotel as a commercial use, provided it does not become residential.

Much of Friday’s discussion centered on how the city will ensure that the individually owned units continue operating as a hotel. Planning Manager Mary Holden said the project’s condominium documents must be reviewed and approved by the city before a building permit is issued. The resolution also expressly prohibits residential use.

Representatives of the applicant said all units will be placed in a centralized hotel rental program. Individual owners will not be permitted to rent their units independently through services such as Airbnb, although owners will be allowed to use their units under restrictions that will be established in the condominium documents.

Several board members questioned how long owners or guests could stay in a unit and how the city would distinguish between hotel occupancy and residential use. City Attorney David Tolces said the city will treat the property as a commercial operation. Units would not qualify for homestead exemptions, and the property would be taxed and serviced as a commercial development.

Bailey also noted that the project’s website refers to the units as “residences,” raising concerns about how they are being marketed and what could happen after the developer sells the units. Applicant representatives said the project will operate as a hotel and remain subject to the city’s prohibition against residential use, regardless of any future changes to the condominium documents.

The board also discussed the marina’s proposed charter-boat operation. The plan includes parking for a 30-passenger charter vessel, which could be used for fishing, sightseeing, or shelling excursions.

The board also revisited possible changes to the city’s off-street parking requirements, an issue that has come before the Planning Board and City Council several times. Attorney Zachary Lombardo, representing a group of commercial property owners, presented a more narrowly focused proposal to reduce the parking requirement for office space from one space per 300 square feet to one space per 600 square feet.

Lombardo said office attendance has declined significantly as remote and hybrid work have become more common, leaving many older office buildings with more required parking than they need. Board members were receptive to reconsidering the requirement but expressed concern that reducing required office parking in mixed-use centers could allow restaurants or other more intensive businesses to expand.

The board reached a consensus directing staff to prepare draft ordinance language for further review. The draft may include different requirements for office buildings that contain restaurants or other higher-intensity uses. No formal vote was taken.