Six story mixed-use development approved for Surf Style building at Public Beach

By John Mullen
City officials are excited that a new development planned for the main beachfront could be the beginnings of a walking district with retail and rental units. The current Surf Style directly west of the Hangout will be torn down and replaced with a six-story building.
“This creates a retail development on the ground floor that’s adjacent to the street and really visually is very appealing,” Councilman Jason Dyken said. “With that retail space it gives an activation to the street that I think will set the stage for a walking district down there that will be active and enjoyable to see along with what we’ve done with the public beachfront and the sidewalks.”
Councilman Philip Harris said the building will be constructed with expensive waterproof technology so it doesn’t have to be raised above the flood plain.
It is a technique to make a building water tight to floods, therefore reducing the required minimum FEMA Flood Zone building height requirement so a building can be constructed at grade level,” City Planner Andy Bauer said.
Beach road has been a busy place in Gulf Shores for more than a year with new medians, traffic signals, sidewalks and bicycle lanes being developed. The Alabama Department of Transportation also plans to resurface State Route 182 from Gulf State Park to West Lagoon this year.
Gulf Shores recently completed refurbishing the Gulf Place beachfront from West Second Street to East First Street in the same area. Work is currently underway on a previously undeveloped lot owned by the city east of the Phoenix All-Suites Hotel. Parking, restrooms, a boardwalk, a police substation and other amenities are planned there with a completion date this spring.
Just across the street to the northwest site work is already underway for an $85 million Embassy Suites hotel which will have 229 rooms, meeting spaces, retail shops and a rooftop pool and bar overlooking Gulf Place.
The new development for the Surf Style location (pictured) was approved in January of 2018 with a zoning setback variance allowing the new building’s footprint to cover 95 percent of the lot. Hangout developer Shaul Zislin asked for and received a conditional use permit for a remote parking lot across the street and to the east of the planned building at the Jan. 14 council meeting.
“I know there have been several variances along the way but in the end, we’ve got a much better project and a much lower height than what’s allowed in there,” Harris said.
During the meeting, the council also approved the purchase of a command unit for the police department for about $181,000.
On the new Surf Style building, Zislin said construction is expected to start this year. Hangout Hospitality, which owns three restaurants in Gulf Shores and one in Orange Beach, is also planning on renovating the former Blond John’s skateboard shop into Big Blue Pizza. Zislin said there are no definite plans on when they will start. The pizza place also already has approval to use the remote parking lot across the street. Bauer said the lot exceeds the number of spaces required for the condos and the pizza place.
“There will be no parking on their site because they are basically developing their entire piece of property they own which is why the off-site parking being built across the street is important and required to make this project work,” Mayor Robert Craft said. “It is a great addition to our community and we have encouraged this to go forward.”
Surf Style will have a 10,000-square-foot retail space on the ground floor of the new building and 12 condominiums on floors two through four. Bauer nine of the condos will have three bedrooms and three will have four bedrooms. The top two floors will contain amenities including a rooftop pool and garden and meeting spaces.
Command Unit
Police Chief Edward Delmore said his department has outgrown its current command trailer and with the number of outdoor events hosted by the city he needs a larger and more versatile unit.
“In 2012 we recognized that we needed some type of command post vehicle and we were able to obtain and use a 20-foot tow behind trailer that served us adequately for a period of time,” Delmore told the council. “We’ve outgrown that vehicle and have been searching for a replacement that would be more self-contained, larger and more appropriate for the many events that we host and operate for in the city.”
After an exhaustive search, Delmore said one for sale was located in Conroe, Texas, for about $195,000. He said the price was negotiated down to $181,000 which includes a new floor in the vehicle and some rearranging of dispatch stations inside.
“The really good news about this particular vehicle is we can purchase this with accumulated federal asset forfeiture funds that we have on hand,” Delmore said. “It will not come out of the general fund. We’ll get many, many years of good service out of this.”
Delmore said the department will keep the trailer and turn it over for use by the dive and special response teams.
In other business the council:
• Agreed to pay Christie Strategy Group $10,000 per quarter in 2019, plus expenses, for lobbying services in Montgomery.
• Ratified an agreement with Resicum International which will move its headquarters to Jack Edwards National Airport. The company will operate out of the Gulf Air Center but plans to build a 22,000-square-foot facility at the airport. Resicum will pay the city 2 percent of gross revenues provided at or on the airport. Resicum is an aerospace company that works on military aircraft.
• Ratified an agreement with Magniflight for aircraft flight instruction sales at Jack Edwards National Airport. In return, Magniflight will pay the city 2 percent of its gross revenues from flight lessons and one-tenth of a percent of gross revenues from aircraft sales.
• Ratified an agreement with Intensive Air Care Charter Air for air ambulance and air charter services at Jack Edwards National Airport.
• Issued a conditional use permit it Veterinarians Adam and Niesje Langston to put an animal hospital in an existing building at 6642 State Route 59. Adam Langston is the head veterinarian at the Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo and this property backs up to the property where the new zoo is being built.
• Agreed to accept four roads in Martyn Woods Phase II subdivision and rights-of-way improvements.
• Adopted a memorandum of understanding with the CoachSafely Foundation to provide all athletic personnel with an annual injury prevention course as required by a new state law passed in 2018.
• Issued an assembly permit for the Big Beach Marathon from 6 a.m.-4 p.m. on Jan. 27. Most of the race is on the Backcountry Trail system and but it will start and end at the Hangout.
• Isued two assembly permits to the Gulf Coast Arts Alliance, one for the Ballyhoo Festival on Oct. 10 in the Waterway Village District and six art markets throughout 2019 at the Gulf Shores First Presbyterian Church and Waterway Village District.
• OK’d a liquor license transfer from One Club Gulf Shores to BAR 45.