Pink Shell Beach Resort has been an icon of Fort Myers Beach since 1950. It will continue to be, vowed owner Robert Boykin, who has been with two ownership groups of the 195-room resort for the past 24 years.

Over the next two years, the Pink Shell will be able to provide housing for construction and reconstruction workers on Estero Island, Boykin said. He doesn’t expect the property at 275 Estero Blvd., to be resembling a “resort” until 2024.

This week, the property still does not have power or water, but efforts are being made to hopefully restore them to be able to lodge people by Nov. 1.

“Of course, we’re not in the resort business at this point in time,” Boykin said. “We’re in the housing business, to be sure. Our role now changes to being a business that helps get the island back. If you look historically at how hotels came about in this country, there’s a long history of this where government would help lodging develop. We sell something everybody needs, which is sleep. We’re at the beginning of our foundations, so to speak.

“I think we’ll be in that mode for quite some time. As I’m guessing, I don’t envision a resort season until ’24.”

Pink Shell’s lobby sits 22 feet above sea level. It did receive some flooding from storm surge, which astonished Boykin. In 1998, Boykin was the CEO of a public company called Boykin Lodging, which bought the hotel from a company called Mariner. In 2006, Boykin sold his company but bought the Pink Shell with his brother under the corporate name JABO, which stands for “Jack and Bob” Boykin.

Over the years, the brothers have put $70 million into building the Pink Shell as it appeared Sept. 27, the day before Hurricane Ian destroyed many of the older structures on the island, including everything on the ground level of the Pink Shell property. But the main resort survived.

“We took great damage,” Boykin said. “To give you an example, we had a state-of-the-art marina. When we built it, we built pilings with an additional height to sustain between a Category 1 and Category 3 hurricane. But this one was something the likes we have never seen. I would have bet you a lot of money that we’d ever see water in our lobby. But we did. It came through it. We will rebuild, and we’ll be back.”

A day after Ian hit, Pink Shell had a disaster relief company on the property. Since then, the going has been made slower because of a flood of workers, visitors and residents back to Estero Island.

About 100 of the resort’s 250 employees have been assisting with cleanup efforts, Boykin said. They have been doing so after undergoing three hours of safety training. The resort is trying to help the remaining employees find other places to work.

“We’re working through that process now,” Boykin said. “Some people lost their homes and their cars and they lost everything. We’ve been helping those people. We did a GoFundMe.
It’s easier to raise the money than to distribute it. But that’s happening as I speak.

“We’ve contacted our industry associates. People who we know who have hotels in other parts of the state. There’s been a labor shortage of late. Some people are taking the opportunity to go elsewhere. That’s working out for a lot of folks.”

The rebuilding process means getting experts in their respective fields to the site in a safe manner, he said.

“We’ve been trying to get into the rhythm of how the island is open now,” Boykin said. “We’re also blessed because we do have a crew of committed folks. We’ve got 100 employees who are on site, every day, helping with the cleanup. The cleanup is challenging because we don’t have the water turned on yet.

“We’re lucky, I guess, in we have more modern buildings. They’re engineered to take these storms. Structurally, we’re fine. We have quite a bit of rebuilding to do, but we’re going to be fine. We’re getting through the process of getting a temporary certificate of occupancy.”

Rae’s Italian restaurant, named for his granddaughter, and Bob’s Beach Bar and Love Shack were both destroyed.

“It was in the parking lot,” Boykin said of his namesake bar. “It’s now somewhere across the back bay upside down. We spotted it just yesterday. There will be another Bob’s. But that’s down the road. As we bring the resort back, there’s no hurry to work on the swimming pool, if you will. We have time. What the island really needs is basic services. That’s what we’re gearing for.”

Jack’s, a breakfast restaurant, remains intact, which will help the Pink Shell service those construction workers upon reopening to them.

“When you get into season, we could do 600 to 650 breakfasts a day,” Boykin said of a restaurant that seats 120 to 140 people. “That would fill the thing for volume. What we’re going to do is breakfast. Our plan is to do boxed lunches. The people who are going to be staying with us will be heading out to wherever on the island they have to go. Dinner will be buffet style.”

There’s really no model for how the Pink Shell will shift its business model over the next two years, he said.

“This is my seventh hurricane,” Boykin said. “None of them have ever compared to this one. That’s the difference. It’s unbelievable the devastation to that barrier island.

“Like everyone else, we watched the storm coming and thought it was going to Tampa. And of course, it didn’t. But our team is pretty good. The resort was really running in top form. We really had worked hard over the last six or seven years to build a good culture and a top business model. I think that’s paying off for us now. We’re efficient. People have good communication protocols. It’s a team of A players.”