Loggerhead Fish-Tale Marina gets approvals for rehabilitation work
As the three-year anniversary of Hurricane Ian nears, the owners of Loggerhead Fish-Tale Marina now have plans in place approved by the Town of Fort Myers Beach Council to proceed with repairs to its docks, dry storage boat facilities and other buildings which will also include a Pinchers restaurant.
The timeline is to have the work completed in stages over the next year, said Brock Petrak, a civil engineer based out of Boca Raton with the Edgewater Group.
The Loggerhead Fish-tale Marina property is owned by Equity LifeStyle Properties through a Texas-based subsidiary. The property was purchased in 2020 from the former ownership group headed by the late Al Durrett.
Petrak said Equity Lifestyle Properties is a large real estate company based out of Illinois. They manage and operate marina, while leasing out part of the property to Walker’s Marine FMB at Fish-Tale Marina for for boat servicing and boat sales. Freedom Boat Club has an agreement for slips on site and for boat rentals.
Under the plans approved by the council, two of the dry storage facilities will be built to accommodate larger boats though slightly less boats. The marina’s dry storage facilities will now be able to handle 434 boats, down from 441 with a total square footage of 68,000 square feet of dry storage.
The wet slips will also be reconfigured to make room for larger boats, which will reduce the number of wet boat slips available from 120 to 99.
“The marina is being redeveloped for larger boats,” Petrak said.
The former Fish-Tale Waterfront Dining was sold in 2022 before Hurricane Ian to make way for a Pinchers. That restaurant could be up and running sometime next fall based on discussions in front of the town council. The restaurant was badly damaged by Hurricane Ian. A deviation from town code approved by the town council will allow the restaurant to be rehabilitated with a zero setback.
The owners took down the office and commercial space that was next door to the restaurant. Petrak said that space will be used to accommodate more parking for the restaurant.
There will be a new boat club with a rental office, bait for sale, ship store, ADA compliant restrooms, showers and ice.
Petrak said the marina work has been permitted through the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and is nearing completion of its approvals for its docks through the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Construction at the marina for the storage facilities and other buildings is expected to begin sometime in November or December. The plan is to make temporary fueling stations available during the buildout of the docks.
Petrak said the new layout will have a larger center lane for boats to make for easier access to forklifts and dry storage.
Water ferry, water taxis and restaurant
Under plans discussed Monday, the marina could also be a future stop for a water ferry shuttling to the future Arches Bayfront hotel.
Fort Myers Beach Vice Mayor Jim Atterholt, a proponent of water ferry and water taxi services, highlighted the plans of the Arches Bayfront hotel for a water taxi stop at Fish-Tale Marina. Atterholt said the stop would be “critical” to alleviating concerns of residents that local residential canals would be used for a water ferry. Atterholt said the ferry could hold up to 49 people.
Petrak said the marina supported the water ferry use and would also accommodate private water taxi services.
Atterholt said the restaurant at Fish-Tale marina which would become Pinchers is “a much-needed one particularly with the restaurant shortage on the south end of the island.”