Gulfstream Hotel and another legal delay. Whatever you do, don't get angry or despondent. That's EXACTLY what they want you to do. Stay upbeat!

Decided to move this post back to the top of the blog. JoAnn Golden's paperwrenching does have an upside, it's drawn more and more people to the cause of getting the Gulfstream Hotel redevelopment project moving forward, and quick.

The public spoke. Loudly. Patience and the public mood are wearing very thin.

This blog post was first published Wednesday, 9/14. The public mood to see something happen with the hotel is wearing very thin. Commissioner Andy Amoroso attended a neighborhood meeting on Monday, 9/19, and the crowd was "boisterous" on this issue. 

The Gulfstream Hotel redevelopment will be delayed again. This structure is on the National Register of Historic Places. It's an important part of our history and Palm Beach County's as well. I've toured the hotel. It will take a total renovation; looks from the outside are deceiving. Time empty is not good for its future and we all know that is not good for the City. But JoAnn Golden et al have the money to delay this project and that's exactly what they did.

The redevelopment plan for the property was approved by the Historic Resource Preservation Board (HRPB) earlier this year. That carries the solution and opens the door for the Gulfstream's future. Its completion, along with the additional parking, will allow the use and preservation of the building and bring much needed hotel rooms back to our downtown.

Certain people, the one's that sued the City over the height issue, know that the Gulfstream being open and operating would represent a turning point for the City's redevelopment. It's that important and they know it. They are just miserable and mean people. The City needs to fight back and we all need to have faith the legal team will do anything and everything possible to end this nonsense.

We simply can't let the malcontents continue to hold this City back. They are making matters worse for everyone and flail around the court system as a way of expressing their anger. Sadly, the taxpayers will be the ones footing the bill for all this. Again.

Historic hotels are special and need to be saved while there's still time. There is one in Texas that is facing the same economic forces as the Gulfstream Hotel. Other hotels in Florida faced similar forces and eventually succumbed. I was the "undertaker" for one in Belleview, Florida called the Belleview Biltmore that had fallen into such disrepair nothing could be done to save it.

I was called in to document the Belleview Biltmore's history prior to demolition. It was one of the largest wooden hotels ever built and it rivaled the Royal Poinciana in Palm Beach that went down in the 1930s. It was part of Henry Plant's railroad network on the west coast. Henry Flagler concentrated on the east coast by a sort of gentleman's agreement.

The hotel being empty is a threat. It's not playing the role it should be in our local economy. It is of another time and challenged to survive no matter who owns it. One of the problems is a hotel operating there is an abstraction now. Many people can't remember it open so they just accept the fact it sits there empty and deteriorating.

Most of the public don't sense the urgency. But they should. The ones behind the latest legal maneuvering understand all this but they don't care. A 65′ height limit for the adjacent hotel on the site IS NOT a "tall" building. It is considered "mid-rise" in the planning and zoning world, certainly not a "high-rise".

The new hotel, along with the additional parking which is crucial, will all stand much lower than the Gulfstream. Not accepting this is MADNESS.

We can't let this latest 'paper-wrenching' get the best of us. Stay calm. Stay upbeat. And please attend meetings and let your thoughts be known. This latest legal 'monkeywrenching' will fail in due time. Let's just all hope the Gulfstream Hotel survives all this madness by those wish it a date with the wrecking ball.