Good morning fellow owners. Earlier this week, I conversed with the Project Director, Chad Carney, from First On Site, our restoration and rebuilding contractor. Chad explained the recovery, restoration, permitting, and rebuilding process. As I suspected after being on the property last week, the damage to the interior of the units is minimal, and limited to some drywall replacement, flooring, generally in the gulf facing units, lower floors, and some cabinet re-installation. All things considered, Chad stated that the unit interiors are not the issue we face, it is the major site damage we suffered, both outside, and inside the ground floor of the building. Many of you have seen the pictures, everything was lost, inside and outside, other than the pool, spa, and some pavement. This past week, we received an “all clear” on the entire interior of the building as far as environmental hazards are concerned, meaning that a major requirement for applying for building permits has been satisfied. Our electrician has now been able to provide temporary power to the elevators. As a result, Schindler Elevator is now coming to the property to inspect them and present their proposal. We are hopeful that the entire building will receive permanent power in the next two weeks if all goes well. Our consultants will be applying for emergency permits to deal with roofing and electric and they are very hopeful that some reconstruction work will start as soon as permits are secured. The County is requiring that all properties on Fort Myers Beach get new elevation certificates. Ours is scheduled for January 18, 2023, and this also satisfies a requirement to apply for permits. Longer-term, the County is requiring that we put together a comprehensive rebuilding package that outlines the entire cost of our rebuilding to satisfy the 50% rule. First On Site and Young and Associates are both working toward that goal and are reportedly close to having the required documentation.
Young and Associates, the insurance consultant, has asked for two quotes on all major components of reconstruction. Most of them have been received, now being reviewed by Young. The minor items, things like tennis court reconstruction, bar cabinetry, floors, etc., are being addressed by Chip Fosth, Resort Director.
In conclusion, it is still far too early to predict a re-opening date. It is still safe to say that Seawatch will be closed for most, if not all of 2023. Once permits are in place and work starts, our future gains clarity. Lee County Community Improvements, the building permit issuing authority, has 18,000 permits they have not reviewed. So much depends on how and when they respond to our permit requests. Young is being very diligent to make sure that when they do submit a permit request, it has all the required documents so as not to be rejected. Please understand that this process is a rapidly changing situation. To be as transparent as possible to you, I am reporting on our situation based on the most current information available. If you have any questions, please email me. Thank you. Tim Pellerin