Melbourne city leaders may move forward with plans to sell some lucrative land Tuesday.
- City bought the hurricane-battered waterfront in 2013 for $1.3 million
- City leaders wanted to build a river-walk park with shops, restaurant; developers didn't want to lease land
For years the city has tried to develop the former Marina Towers property into a destination waterfront location with no luck.
“This has been a prime piece of real estate for a long period of time,” said real estate consultant Jason Steele with Smith and Associates in Melbourne.
The property is tucked in between the Indian River Lagoon and US 1 in Melbourne. Hurricanes bruised and battered the spot more than a decade ago and in 2013 the city bought the land for more than $1.3 million.
City leaders wanted to build a river-walk park that connected to the property with shops, a restaurant, a boutique hotel and a public marina.
But developers apparently did not wanted to lease the land. The city received no bids from developers.
“Financing is very, very difficult to get for leased land,” said Steele.
So the Melbourne City Council will consider selling the land at its meeting Tuesday at 6 p.m.
Steele says the city should not give up hope because selling could attract new developers to the plan.
“The general public should be able to be allowed to have some sort of boardwalk along here,” Steele said, “Perhaps maybe the city should joint-venture a marina with a private developer and then sell the uplands, that’s most likely the best scenario.”
One option for the city council Tuesday night is to retain an easement so it can still build a linear park along the waterfront.