In the Know: Via CIA and hotels, Phil McCabe's 'fast, furious' Southwest Florida ride to $156M
Phil Fernandez
Phil McCabe surprised me in at least a couple of ways in recent days.
Sure, he's selling one of his "greatest of passions," the iconic Inn on Fifth. Yeah, that was the first wowsa.
But the second: The mighty spry dude's been going at it on Earth since a little after the end of World War II.
As a military intelligence officer for the Air Force. As a CIA member. As the founder and investor of hotels and other businesses in his native New England and locally, where he was a major force in transforming Fifth Avenue South to a luxury destination known worldwide.
Doesn't seem he's taken the foot off the accelerator until now.
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"It has been a fast, furious time of my life, and at times exhausting," McCabe said, after I asked him about what prompted the deal. "Unfortunately my time in life is running out, turning 75 in just a few days. Because of the age factor, I have made one of the more difficult decisions of my career."
Perhaps the $156 million softened the blow a little bit, didn't it?
"The decision to sell was also based on a host of other factors besides age, such as the overall market for real estate," said McCabe, the founder, owner and general manager. "We had the enviable position of many, many national companies wanting to own the hotel as an asset, and bidding up the price."
'May 11 closing'
The Pebblebrook Hotel Trust transaction is crossing the finish line a lot quicker than what was initially thought.
Nine days from now, his race ends the Wednesday after the Kentucky Derby. Depending on which horses eventually make the starting gate, he could root for Golden Glider, Rich Strike or Smile Happy.
"A May 11 closing will be a sad day for me in many respects, but then a life-altering and exciting day in many other respects," said McCabe, who does plan "to slow down" but whose company with his sons, Joseph and Philip, will keep eyeing potential investments. "I hate giving up my passion, but regrettably age will not allow me to go on managing the day-to-day operations, a responsibility that is literally seven days a week."
As he notes, "A hotel never closes."
And that's how it's been for McCabe in the quarter-century since he launched his downtown palace, minus the breaks during renos necessary to compete with the high-class beauties and their Gulf-front berths that we'll talk about more shortly.
"It has been a wonderful 25 years growing the hotel into a four-star, four-diamond iconic gem, all with the help of some amazing managers, and staff. As the GM of the hotel for those many years, my days were never boring, my love of the business never failing," he said, confident about the new owners. "Pebblebrook would be the best managers of my amazing staff, people who I love, people who made my success over the years."
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Good timing on the part of the Maryland-based Pebblebrook, which already operates LaPlaya Beach Resort & Club as part of a portfolio of 53 destinations from coast to coast.
Just this past week, McCabe's 119-room lodge received a four-star rating for a ninth consecutive year from Forbes Travel Guide, which has been handing out these honors since 1958.
It's not given to just any accommodation. Only three in Southwest Florida have that ranking, the others being the Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort in Naples and the Ritz in Sarasota.
No others on this coast for 500 miles from here to Panama City Beach.
Constantly renovating pays off
And that's gotta make McCabe all the more giddy, considering his competition.
He was constantly renovating the former bank and adjoining property, burning through about $1 million a year, and in 2019, he poured some $5 million of sugar into it.
On average, hotel operators will update their places every seven years or so, according to lodging renovator Interserv.
And I'm like, man, what gives? McCabe just pointed toward the Gulf of Mexico, 650 yards away from his two acres or so.
He had to stay ahead of the shiny complexes that are arguably blessed with Southwest Florida's greatest amenity.
"You have to justify the expenditure," McCabe said. It's all about repeat customers who "see the investments."
And sometimes those investments, in the form of those relatively tiny McCabe parcels, can provide huge returns. Like $156 million worth.
Consider that the considerably larger 125-acre gulf property that made up the Naples Beach Hotel sold for $362 million last year.
The new owners aren't nearly done spending money for the Four Seasons and new complex where work began in late April. Based on a similar project in Fort Lauderdale, at least another $200 million will not be surprising. Completion is targeted for late 2024.
Check in: Plenty of rooms in the inns
And that's just a couple of the many hotel projects, purchases and improvements in the works in Southwest Florida. Here's a sampling:
► At the most congested intersection in the city of Naples, just up the road from McCabe, an AC Marriott is rising, with a finish planned for late 2023.
► A former McCabe property dating to 1986, the Inn of Naples, two miles north of Coastland Center off U.S. 41, sold on March 15, with a $15.3 million purchase price. It's joining the Hilton chain, which is scheduled to begin taking reservations at its site in July. By the way, a proposed 10,000-square foot Bahama Breeze restaurant at Coastland received the city design review board's preliminary approval this past week.
► Moving on, the downtown Fort Myers Hotel Indigo has been also undergoing a similar Hilton changeover that's supposed to officially wrap up by summer under the name, The Hotel Banyan.
► Lee County government has been considering a 131-room Hampton Inn in the Bell Tower area of U.S. 41 and Daniels Road, adjacent to the Homewood Suites.
► In March, the former Registry Resort, known these days as the Naples Grande Beach Resort, was part of a $248 million agreement on Seagate Drive in North Naples, near Clam Pass Park.
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► The Tamiami Trail and Davis Boulevard area is scheduled to usher in The Ellington, a 10-story, 125-room hotel topped with 24 swanky condos by late 2023.
► Other major Southwest Florida projects or updates include Margaritaville on Fort Myers Beach, the Ritz Carlton on Vanderbilt Beach and the Great Wolf Lodge off I-75, not far from the tollbooth to enter the Everglades.
You can read about these and others by going to the In the Know page at naplesnews.com/news/in-the-know or searching the hotel name at naplesnews.com.
Reader question on 3rd Street project
Naples reader Nancy Garfinkel and I have been going back and forth about a dozen times on a question she's been asking me since 2019 that thousands of you have also wondered about in your inquiries and on social media. She checked in with me before April bid adieu
"Again, just asking about the deal to build the boutique hotel on 3rd."
And she finally got the news she was hoping to hear.
Indeed, while she has liked the green space after the tearing down of the rundown Third Street Plaza at Gordon Drive and Broad Street, the hot and cold Old Naples Hotel project is back on, allegedly.
"Hope so," a no longer disappointed Garfinkel said. "It will be an asset."
A new partnership has been created, and this time it involves a powerhouse in the lodging industry: Ocean Properties Hotels & Resorts.
One of the largest operators in Florida, its potent portfolio consists of more than 125 hotels and 19,000 rooms in about 15 states.
Construction is targeted to begin later this year, with completion slated for early 2024.
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Back in May 2018, the City Council approved the redevelopment project, reminiscent of the historic Naples Hotel and its iconic cupola.
The former inn opened in 1889 and operated for nearly 90 years. So Garfinkel and the rest of us have been waiting awhile for the replacement.
Based at the Naples Daily News, Columnist Phil Fernandez (pfernandez@gannett.com) writes In the Know as part of the USA TODAY NETWORK. Support Democracy and subscribe to a newspaper.