City Approves Hotel District Amendment Change

A long-delayed beachside project bringing more hotel rooms to Daytona Beach is back on the front burner after Daytona Beach City Commissioners unanimously approved an amendment to the city’s convention hotel and condominiums planned commercial district agreement earlier this month.

The amendment request by PDA Trading Inc. provides for potential retail, parking and event space for a parcel on the northeast corner of Oakridge Boulevard and North Atlantic Avenue.

The amendment includes additional hotel uses on the property as well as street-level parking, retail space and an “amenity deck” to be managed in partnership with an adjacent company.

Plans to develop the area date back to 2013 with City Commission approval of a rezoning request to build a 501-room hotel on the southeast corner of Oakridge and Atlantic with a 101-unit condominium on the northeast corner.

Subsequent amendments followed later in 2013 and in 2016 and 2019 as the project evolved.

The amendment request was reviewed by city staff and found it consistent with the city’s comprehensive plan and the Main Street redevelopment goals and objectives.

“This project has the potential to provide significant benefits to the residents, businesses and visitors of Daytona Beach,” the staff report said. “Staff does not have any indication that the proposed development will adversely affect property values in the area.”

The city’s Beachside Redevelopment Board discussed the amendment request at a July meeting and the Planning Board heard the issues later the same month.

At the July 25 Planning Board meeting, member McLean asked Robert Merrell, an attorney with Cobb Cole representing the applicant, why the project was taking so long to complete. According to the meeting minutes, Merrell said “Sometimes these projects take some time to develop.”