Melbourne marina site may be redeveloped

The city of Melbourne plans to sell the site of a closed marina and razed restaurant for redevelopment as a cluster of restaurants, hotel rooms and marina slips.

The Melbourne City Council decided in a unanimous vote to sell the city-owned property for $2.2 million to River Walk Marina Park Partners LLC, the company behind the planned development, called Riverwalk Marina.

The estimated cost to build Riverwalk Marina – a cluster of three restaurants and a seven-story, 100-room hotel with an 81-slip marina – ranges from $25 million to $30 million.

The land the city agreed to sell includes 4.4 upland acres and 2.7 acres of leased submerged lands. The closing is pending a 90-day inspection period so the developer can ensure the property is suitable for its planned project.

The site is known as the old Coral Bay Restaurant-Intracoastal Marina property. The city of Melbourne bought it in 2013 for $1.375 million, then tried but failed to lease the land to a developer.

Crews recently cleared the site following demolition of the degraded metal frame of an abandoned dry-storage building for boats. [Florida Today] – Mike Seemuth