FORT LAUDERDALE The planned Gold Coast Merrimac Beach Hotel is getting closer to approval, according to attorney Ron Mastriani, who represents the developer.
We re planning to do a 220-room hotel with 100 timeshares, said Mastriani, adding that P&Z [Planning & Zoning plans] are due on [November] 9th, so we should be through by the first of the year.
The Gold Coast, once approved, will be erected on the site of two former hotels that had fallen into disrepair, those being the Gold Coast and the Merrimac. Those two hotels thrived 15 years ago but struggled since the demise of Spring Break here. The owners of the hotel, the Motwani family, held onto the land, hoping the strip would one day become ripe for development.
The project, to be located between Winamar and Terramar Streets, was originally filed in June 2000 as a 500-room hotel, but has since been scaled back. The developer will be Sarasota-based John McDonald, who is also one of the partners in the 234-room St. Regis Hotel and Residences about 10 blocks further south on the beach.
Talks are continuing with several hotel chains to operate the Gold Coast. In September, it was reported that Hilton Hotels Corp. was one of those chains, although no one has been willing to confirm that. (11/3/00) Jay Nussbaum