Permits and approvals are in hand, and utilities have been relocated. Construction on Gulf Shores’ much-anticipated Embassy Suites hotel project should start this month.

“Foundation construction activities are scheduled to begin this month,” said Blake Phelps, Gulf Shores’ economic development coordinator. “Construction is expected to last approximately 26 months, which would set a tentative opening timeline of mid-to-late 2025.”

The private-public partnership was originally announced in June 2018. The mixed-use development will be constructed on a 1.93-acre parcel at the corner of W. Beach Blvd. and W. 1st St. The eight-floor building will contain a hotel with over 250 rooms, conference space and amenities. The project will also include street-front retail spaces on the ground level.

Phelps said the project’s biggest challenges that have impacted the start of the project have been primarily COVID-related.

“The hospitality sector was hit as hard as any, particularly hotels with large conference spaces like the Embassy Suites will offer,” Phelps said. “Financing for these types of projects practically dried up as did the availability of labor and materials. These conditions have certainly improved over the last 12 months, but construction costs remain significantly higher than what was originally projected.”

According to Phelps, the project will be transformative for the Gulf Shores area. An independent economic impact analysis by Keivan Deravi, dean of the College of Public Policy and Justice at Auburn University at Montgomery, in 2018 indicated the project would provide an impact of $65 million to the local economy.

Project background

In June 2018, Gulf Shores Mayor Robert Craft announced the city had reached an agreement with DD Partners LLC, a development team led by Birmingham-based developer Rob Durham and Marietta, Georgia-based developer Ron Day, to construct an $85 million mixed-use development.

When announced, the project was to include a 398,000-square-foot building anchored by a 229-room Embassy Suites hotel with a fine dining restaurant, street-front retail and a 23,000-square-foot outdoor rooftop area with pool, bar, lounge and event terrace. Additional amenities announced included nearly 12,000 square feet of conference space including a 7,800-square-foot ballroom, full-service spa, indoor pool and fitness center.

At the time of the announcement, the development team said they expected to complete all necessary permitting by the end of 2018 and begin construction in early 2019. Later, the start date was announced as July 1, 2019, with a projected opening of late fall 2021.

Then, in June 2019, the developers tweaked the timeline and planned to begin construction in January 2020 and open in late March 2022.

At a Dec. 2, 2019, Gulf Shores City Council meeting, the developers received permission from the city to push the timeline once again. Ordinance 1963 was approved by council, and the new projected start day was set for September 2020, with a July 4, 2022, completion date.

Along with the push of the start date, the developer at the time, King Scovell with Woodbine Development, informed council they were looking to take square footage out of the building to lower costs, “none of which has compromised the amenities, streetscape, room count or parking. It has taken quite a bit of time to get there, so we are asking for a little more time in 2020.”

The project was reduced from the originally planned 10 floors to eight. The amenity deck was also reduced from two floors to one, but the number of rooms, retail and amenities was not reduced.

By October 2021, D.D. Partners LLC returned to council to request the fifth extension and added a substantial financial payment to the city as a good-faith gesture of their commitment.

Council granted the extension, which pushed the project start date to June 30, 2022, with a completion date of Sept. 30, 2024. D.D. Partners LLC, offered $400,000 (to be paid in two payments of $200,000 each) as a good-faith gesture of their commitment and confidence in the project.