Sept. 13–NAVARRE BEACH — Santa Rosa County Commissioner Jim Melvin said development of a new hotel on the former Holiday Inn site is gearing up for a ground-breaking in early 2014.
No paperwork for the project has been submitted yet, but engineering teams for the hotel have had preliminary conversations with the county’s Engineering Department. Melvin said Marilyn Hess, who owns the lease for the 18-acre property, plans to build a new 150-room hotel.
“It’s going to remake Navarre Beach,” Melvin said. “The original Holiday Inn is what really put Navarre on the map to start with. It caused the little shopping center to turn into a big shopping center and ultimately into the Publix shopping center and spurred the growth that we enjoy now.
“Everybody in the community is looking forward to it,” he added. “I haven’t heard one single comment that’s negative about it.”
The new hotel is expected to have a huge impact on Navarre Beach. If it keeps the average occupancy rate of the condominium rentals, Melvin said the hotel is projected to increase the county’s bed tax collections by 25 to 30 percent, if not more.
The iconic Holiday Inn, which was featured in the 1978 film “Jaws 2,” was destroyed during Hurricane Ivan in 2004.
Melvin said he did not know what brand the new hotel would be. It has been rumored that it will not be a Holiday Inn.
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