The owner of Hertz Arena and hockey’s Florida Everblades (ECHL) has preliminary plans for a nearby hotel, which would include conference space and could serve visitors to the venue.
Last summer, the Everblades and Hertz Arena–the team’s home in Estero–were both sold to the Hoffmann Family of Companies, led by businessman David Hoffmann. New ownership’s long-term strategy for Hertz Arena could include new development in the surrounding area, with preliminary plans taking shape for a hotel and conference center on a nearby site off Ben Hill Griffin Parkway.
The current concept calls for a 150-room hotel and a small conference center. Hoffmann says that there is a verbal option in place to buy the property targeted for the project, and believes that the hotel would help support Hertz Arena by providing a lodging option for visitors to the venue. More from the Naples Daily News:
“It’s certainly going to support the arena traffic there,” said David Hoffmann, founder of Osprey Capital and chairman of Hoffmann Commercial Real Estate. “We have 32 teams that come in here to see us. We hold various sporting events from all over the country where people come to the arena. We have to have a hotel to support that.”
Nearby properties to the nearly 6.5-acre, vacant land include Hertz Arena to the west, Miromar Outlets to the south and The Club at Grandezza to the east.
A sign advertising the future “Hoffmann Inn & Suites” was seen on the property in December.
The property is currently owned by Naples-based South Real Estate Group, according to Lee County property records. The Hoffmann family has a verbal option to buy the land, Hoffmann said.
Any plans for the hotel would have to take shape over time, with a development order approval from Estero’s Design Review Board among the key tasks that would have to be completed. Plans for the surrounding area would follow renovations to the venue itself, as new ownership has undertaken Hertz Arena upgrades since purchasing the facility and the Everblades.
