Construction of Daytona Beach hotel and condo complex stops after developer fires contractor

Construction of a high-rise hotel and condominium complex in Daytona Beach stopped because the developer fired the general contractor 20 months after breaking ground.

The city government issued a stop-work order Oct. 3 that halted construction of Daytona Beach Convention Hotel & Condominiums after the developer fired W.G. Yates & Sons Construction Group as general contractor.

The Palm Coast-based developer, Photogroup Inc., notified the city in a letter that it fired W.G. Yates and requested withdrawal of a building permit for the development, effective Oct. 2.

The city’s stop-work order prohibits construction of the hotel complex from resuming until Photogroup hires a new general contractor.

Photogroup plans to apply for building permits with a new general contractor, according to Alexy Lysich, vice president of the development company, which his Russian family runs.

The $192 million Daytona Beach Convention Hotel & Condominiums development is designed as a hotel and a condominium hotel with a 28-story south tower and a 31-story north tower with a total of 501 rooms. The beachfront development site is at the intersection of Oakridge Boulevard and State Road A1A in Daytona Beach.

Prior to the dismissal of W.G. Yates as general contractor, the south tower was on schedule to open in 2019 and the north tower was on schedule to open in 2020, Lysich told the News-Journal.

Why Photogroup fired the W.G. Yates is unclear.

Manoj Bhoola, chief executive officer of Ormond Beach-based Elite Hospitality Inc., told the News-Journal that it is “very uncommon for a developer and a general contractor to part ways so deep into a project.” [News-Journal] – Mike Seemuth