Developer seeks county approval to convert hotel to affordable apartments in Golden Gate

A private developer wants to convert the Golden Gate Inn into rental apartments.

The proposal includes a promise to make all of the apartments rent-restricted to help fill a critical need for workforce housing in Collier County.

Ultimately, the plans will require a thumbs up from county commissioners.

The developer has the long-time hotel under contract.

The current owners are seeking land use and zoning changes on behalf of the developer who wants to "repurpose" the property to offer "efficiency," or one-bedroom, rentals.

The developer, Styx Cos., wants to increase the allowed number of multifamily units on the roughly 6.1-acre property from 98 to 215.

The property is located at 4100 Golden Gate Parkway, near Collier Boulevard. For many years, it operated as a Quality Inn & Suites.

More recently, the hotel served as short-term apartments after a name change, but renters have since been vacated, to make way for redevelopment.

'Time for a sale'

Dougall McCorkle, a senior associate with Premier Commercial, represents the sellers, R & M Real Estate Co., owned by Robert and Mario Vocisano. Asked why the owners put the property on the market, he said simply they held it for many years, and it was "time for a sale."

LoopNet shows the property hit the market in May, priced at $14 million. It quickly went under contract with Styx, which is still doing the standard "due diligence" investigation into the benefits and risks, McCorkle said.

The 153-room hotel was marketed as a "unique" redevelopment opportunity, as "one of the largest commercial properties in Collier County." It sits in one of county's federally designated Opportunity Zones, which provides tax benefits to developers.

The property is also in one of Collier's Innovation Zones. The zones offer county incentives to attract businesses and jobs, which the new apartments could help support in Golden Gate.

Built in 1977, the hotel was last renovated in 2012.

There is the potential to go much higher and to have much higher density on the hotel site for an affordable housing development, under Florida's new Live Local Act, designed to help residents live closer to where they work, through the offering of financial incentives and the relaxing of local regulations. The developer isn't going that route, with no plans to go up or out.

The current height limit on the property is 100 feet, but the main buildings are only four stories, about half that size, and will remain that way.

The applicants held a required neighborhood meeting about the proposal Thursday night at the Golden Gate Community Center.

Changes under review

The petitions are still under review by county staff. After staff's review is complete, the requested amendments will go before the county's Planning Commission for a recommendation, before a final decision by the county commission.

Both amendments will require a supermajority vote, or approval by four out of five commissioners. They could go before the board in November or December.

The existing zoning is in the form of a planned unit development, or PUD, which already allows multifamily uses, including apartments, but not as many as sought.

Naples land use attorney Rich Yovanovich, who represents Styx Cos., said his client plans to renovate the entire property, and the units will be spread among three buildings, one of which used to serve as a clubhouse for the adjacent golf course, which is now closed.

"It's a creative idea," Yovanovich said of the conversion. "It's a good idea."

He stressed the dire need for more affordable housing in the county for its workforce, so much of which commutes from other counties, clogging up roads.

The new apartments would range in size from 250 to 450 square feet.

Apartments would be rent-restricted

The developer has agreed to set aside 24 units for households earning incomes at or below 80% of the county's median income, and another 25 units for those with incomes at or below the 100% threshold, Yovanovich said.

The rest of the units, he said, would be priced no higher than for households earning 120% of the county's median income, but could be rented by anyone.

The county's median income now sits at $96,800 (for a family of four). The median income is the amount that divides a population into two equal groups, half having an income above that amount, and half having an income below that amount.

Rents would range from a low of $1,397 to a high of $2,097 a month, based on income, Yovanovich said.

For August, the average rent paid for a one-bedroom apartment in Naples was $2,449, up 11% from a year ago, according to rental platform Zumper.

In July, Elizabeth Radi, a vocal leader for the Collier County Tenants Union, raised concerns about the hotel conversion after the owners tossed out the existing renters, who paid lower-than-market rents. She feared many of the tenants might be left homeless, unable to find anything they could afford, with limited alternatives in the county.

The owners, she said, gave the renters a 60-day notice to vacate, so it didn't come as a surprise.

"Most of those families did find other places to go," Radi said. "I did find out."

Still, she said, it could be years before the new apartments are available, temporarily reducing the affordable housing stock.

She lamented that the affordable housing crisis doesn't seem to be getting any better in the county.

"At this point, people are just leaving," Radi said. "I don't think that the rents are stable."

More affordable housing planned nearby

In July 2019, Collier County purchased the neighboring Golden Gate Golf Course at Collier Boulevard and Golden Gate Parkway, for $29.1 million, with the goal of protecting green space and preventing overdevelopment. It was also owned by the Vocisanos.

Plans for the 165-acre property include the development of a veterans nursing home and affordable housing, which are not yet under construction.

BigShots Golf hoped to open a golf and entertainment center on a slice of the county-owned land next year, but it pulled out of its lease agreement in June, after facing budgeting and financing challenges.

Plans included a 12-hole golf course, a virtual driving range and a restaurant.

A majority of county commissioners still hopes to see a 12-hole golf course and clubhouse built on the land, but the county hasn't identified another developer yet.

More:Collier to buy Golden Gate golf course for $29.1 million

And:BigShots Golf entertainment center no longer coming to Naples

Hotel conversion could take 'a year or two'

As for the repurposing of the old hotel, Yovanovich said it could take a "year or two" to complete after county approval. A site plan has yet to be developed, and the developer would still have to go through the permitting process, he noted.

The new apartments would include amenities for renters, such as a fitness center, and a pool, which is already on site, as part of the former hotel. The investment in the renovations could be somewhere between $5 million and $10 million, so it will be significant, Yovanovich said.

The existing property consists of two hotel wings and two smaller buildings.

The hotel conversion wouldn't be a first for Styx. The South Carolina-based developer has done others like it in its home state, as well as in Florida.

One of its more notable projects included turning a historic inn and bakery in Columbia, South Carolina, into 29 boutique studio apartments.

Other developers are interested in doing the same in Collier County, Yovanovich said, as opportunities arise, with older hotels and motels reaching the end of their useful lives. He represents one of them, but he's not ready to disclose any more details on that potential project just yet.

It's an idea, he said, that he hopes the community will embrace as another way to provide much-needed attainable housing in the county.