New plan: Stalled 31-story Daytona Beach condo tower will start with two-story building

DAYTONA BEACH — More than 10 years ago, a Palm Coast-based company called Protogroup bought 4.6 acres of oceanfront property and dove into its plan to build a $200 million twin-tower hotel-condominium development on the site.

The 28-story hotel south tower opened in June of 2021, two years later than had been forecast. The 31-story condo tower, promised to be the tallest building ever constructed in Daytona Beach and open in 2020, has yet to be built.

Now, with missed deadline after missed deadline surging and receding like the ocean tides, Protogroup is proposing a new plan for the north end of its property at the eastern tip of Oakridge Boulevard.

The latest idea, several city officials said, is to construct a 20-foot-tall building on the site fronting State Road A1A. A row of street-level shops with a glass front could be located on the first floor of the structure, and event space overlooking the ocean could be on a second floor.

The condo tower's foundation has already been built, consisting of rows and rows of huge concrete pilings driven 100 feet down into the sand.

Since construction stalled out after those pilings were built five years ago, the idea is to create a building tall enough to cover the eyesore of rusting rebar sticking out of a maze of towering pilings.

Then when it's ready, Protogroup could build on top of the new structure and resume its plan to construct a $100 million condo tower.

"They're not abandoning the original plan," said Deputy City Manager Jim Morris. "My intent is to get a finished structure that can support the building if they go higher later. It seems like a reasonable solution just to get a finished appearance."

In the short term, it's also a much cheaper solution for a company that's been struggling for a few years to line up enough condo buyers and financing, and was hit with a condemnation and demolition order from the city in 2022 and was threatened with a second condemnation last year.

Beautifying a construction site eyesore

The new idea is still conceptual and in early stages, Morris said. For it to move forward, the city would have to approve a site plan and a significant amendment to the planned development agreement for the condo tower site.

The proposal is more than six months away from a vote of the City Commission, said city Planning Director Dennis Mrozek. Once the idea is formally submitted, it will first get reviewed by the city's Technical Review Team. Then a neighborhood meeting will be held, and after that the proposal will be considered by the Beachside Redevelopment Board, Planning Board and finally the City Commission.

One of Protogroup's top officials, Alexey Lysich, and his attorney, Rob Merrell, have met with some city commissioners to explain the idea.

"I think they're anxious to get it going as quickly as possible," Mrozek said. "The owner understands people are tired of looking at it."

Mayor Derrick Henry said he's aware of "a proposal in the works" that would "beautify the area" in the near future. Many people who drive by the property on a regular basis have complained about the construction site's appearance for years.

City Commissioner Ken Strickland, whose zone includes the north end of the beachside, said he met with Lysich and Merrell on the new condo site proposal. Strickland noted that the proposal includes creating surface parking on the east side of the site and using the rooftop of the building as a deck for special events.

Neither Morris nor Mrozek are aware of any discussion of using the roof for events. Mrozek did confirm there's been talk of adding surface parking on the ocean side of the property. Protogroup also has a parking garage across the street on the west side of A1A.

Mrozek said the new design can work around the pilings, which were originally going to support the bottom of an onsite parking garage. The city is happy to accommodate an interim solution and avoid the property continuing to look like a blighted construction site for years to come, he said.

"Our concern was we want it to look like a complete building," Mrozek said. "I'm anxious for this to get cleaned up."

Lysich did not return a phone call seeking comment, and Merrell said he can't discuss the project yet.

Stalled condo tower backstory

Excavation work on the Protogroup site began in March 2017, with an initial projected completion date of summer 2019 for the 28-story hotel south tower. The 455-room Daytona Grande hotel had its construction deadlines extended several times, and it finally opened in June of 2021.

Work on the north tower's foundation began in December 2018, and it was originally slated for completion in 2020. The city agreed to several extensions, and the latest construction completion deadline for the north tower was March 16, 2024.

The north tower's building permit and site permit both expired two years ago due to the major lack of construction activity for a few years prior to that.

The project has also had a string of other problems, including switching contractors several times and running into a series of snags.

Among the missteps was construction of a westward valet lane for the parking garage built on the one-way eastbound Oakridge Boulevard, and insufficient restoration of the intersection in front of the hotel after new water and sewer lines were installed underneath that crossing.

There have also been legal fights with past contractors and a small decades-old motel that sits in the middle of the two tower sites.

Daytona Beach condo site's struggles: Signs of Life? Daytona Beach oceanfront condominium project working to get back on track

In early September 2022, the city's chief building official issued a condemnation and demolition order for the hulking Protogroup company structure that had been stalled out in the foundation construction phase for three years at that point.

City Chief Building Official Glen Urquhart wrote in his condemnation order that portions of the unfinished structure were dangerous and "likely to partially or completely collapse, or to become detached or dislodged" due to faulty construction, neglect, abandonment, exposure to the elements, damage and decay.

The city backed off the condemnation and demolition threat after Protogroup cleaned up the site and agreed to a plan to have structural engineers inspect the foundation work before resuming construction, but building construction has yet to restart.

You can reach Eileen at Eileen.Zaffiro@news-jrnl.com

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Daytona Beach Protogroup condo tower to start with two-story building