The owner of the recently demolished Punta Gorda Waterfront Hotel and its attached building that used to house Hurricane Charley’s Sushi, Raw Bar & Grill, may build a new hotel on the site, his attorney said.
Derek Rooney of the GrayRobinson law firm represents Amer Asmar, the owner, and has appeared before the city’s Code Enforcement Board to give updates on the site’s progress.
“I am happy to report the buildings are down,” Rooney said as he stood before the board Aug. 28.
But that wasn’t the only news he had for the board. “I have indicated to the city that the property owner has some designs he’s looking at for new hotels and whether or not we will be going to City Council to request maintaining the surfaced parking lot,” he said.
Rooney said if Asmar chooses not to rebuild a hotel, then pavement in the parking area will be removed.
He said the demolition work went without a hitch, and he said the buildings came down quickly.
“As far as I know there weren’t any issues,” he said.
When the demolition process began, there were roadblocks. The hotel was found to contain asbestos, and several contractors said they could not do the asbestos remediation and/or demolition work.
Finally, Orlando-based Pece of Mind Environmental Inc. took on the demolition project.
“We started the project July 5 with asbestos abatement and interior demolition to prepare the buildings for structural demolition,” Pece of Mind Environmental Vice President Landon Thompson said.
“The structure demolition started last Wednesday—Aug. 21. The demolition of the buildings took only two days,” he said.
“The next six weeks will be hauling the demolished materials to the landfill and recycling facilities.”
Most of the debris is expected to be off the site in about one to two months, Rooney told the board.
He said he will come back before the board to settle outstanding fees and penalties with the city on behalf of Asmar and his company Punta Gorda AA Hotel LLC.
Board Chair Adele Higgins said she would put AA Hotel LLC on the agenda for the Oct. 23 meeting.
Asmar’s company owned the buildings located at 300 W. Retta Esplanade in the Historic District. Both the hotel and restaurant were damaged by Hurricane Ian in September 2022 and sustained further damage from Hurricane Idalia in August 2023.
The restaurant, owned by Dean Stainton who also owns Dean’s South of the Border in Punta Gorda, reopened Hurricane Charley’s after Hurricane Ian, but flooding from Hurricane Idalia rendered it a public safety hazard and fire risk, officials said. That led to its permanent closure.
