Estero hotel project proposed near Coconut Point mall

A rendering of the hotel proposed next to the Rapallo community in Estero, near Coconut Point mall.

Plans for a hotel off of U.S. 41 near Coconut Point mall were first presented to the Estero Planning and Zoning Board during a Tuesday meeting.

The Hilton Garden Inn is planned to be 55 feet high — ten feet higher than village standard of 45 feet, which is three stories tall.

The developers are asking for the village to approve the height change. Any architectural towers or other items could rise above 55 feet and would also require special permission from the village.

The hotel is planned to sit on 2.2 acres along Sweetwater Ranch Boulevard, which is off U.S. 41, next to Estero Fire Rescue Station 42. The hotel site would share an entrance with the fire station. 

The heart of Coconut Point Mall is an easy walk from the hotel — about a half mile away.

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The Hilton is currently planned to stand five stories tall with 115 rooms. A pool and deck would be behind the building and a parking lot would fill the front. A large barrier of thick trees and shrubberies will line the roadways as is standard for nearly all Estero construction projects.

Another Coconut Point property along U.S. 41 is already approved for a taller hotel. It sits just north of the fire station plot that this project chose.

"Just a few hundred feet away from (this site),” said Ned Dewhirst, an engineer with the project. “(It has) the same height we wanted and the same usage we wanted — so moving it (to the new property) we don’t think would have any impact.”

The intersection is designed to have a working traffic signal, although the project wouldn’t likely prompt the use of one.

Frank Moser, resident of the Rapallo Community located near the hotel site, said the residents are open to the idea. The developer came and spoke with the community to lay out the plans.

“They left with much of Rapallo agreeing a 55-foot-tall would be better at (the fire station site) in lieu of a hotel (along U.S. 41),” he said.

The land is still approved for a hotel, and Moser said the Hilton Garden Inn should be the only hotel in the area.

This is the project’s first step into village approval. The project will return to the Planning and Zoning Board for an official vote and, if the changes are approved, would continue to the Design Review Board.

The Design Review Boards scrutinizes every project’s aesthetics to make sure it fits in the Estero community.

The board regularly requires developers to make design changes, either minor or major, before continuing for final approval.

See the meeting online:

http://estero-fl.gov/council/watch-meetings-online/