Project Story

On May 5, 2023, Sun Outdoors shared the exciting news that their highly anticipated Florida Keys resort, Sun Outdoors Islamorada, had finally opened its doors to guests. This long-awaited vacation destination was designed to cater to visitors of all ages, providing them with an incredible oceanfront experience and an abundance of amenities tailored to RVers and vacation homeowners seeking a laid-back lifestyle.

Nestled on a 12-acre plot, Sun Outdoors Islamorada is a resort that boasts 82 full hook-up RV sites, catering to both short-term and long-term stays. Additionally, there are 48 elevated vacation homes strategically positioned to provide the ultimate view of the Atlantic Ocean. To cater to boating enthusiasts, the resort also provided 47 boat slips across three marinas. The well-appointed resort also includes private poolside cabanas, two heated pools, and a range of modern amenities, including an elevated clubhouse, on-site dining options, a second-level ocean view lounge, a dedicated dog walk, community fire pits, laundry facilities, billiards, and watersport rentals.

It’s hard to believe that this impressive resort was the result of a challenging and transformative journey that began with a hurricane.

Overcoming Hurricane Irma

In September 2017, the destruction of Hurricane Irma struck the Florida Keys. The existing Ocean Breeze Mobile Home Community was destroyed as winds reached up to 130 MPH and a staggering 10-foot storm surge tossed mobile homes as far as 90 feet from their foundations.

Undeterred by the devastation, the redevelopment team embarked on a five-year endeavor to rebuild and reimagine the property. The ambitious plan involved merging two legacy RV resorts; San Pedro and Sea Breeze, into a single retreat known as Sun Outdoors Islamorada.

Sun Communities assembled a comprehensive team consisting of land use attorneys, local real estate consultants, civil engineers, architects, landscape architects, and Atwell as Project and Construction Manager. This team endured 18 months of challenges to secure the site plan approval, followed by two years of navigating the intricate permitting processes involving entities such as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the State of Florida Department of Health, and the Village of Islamorada.

Creating a vacation destination

Finally, in January 2021, the construction of the new resort commenced after months of meticulous planning and hard work, and Sun Outdoors Islamorada was completed in March 2023, standing as a testament to the determination of the redevelopment team.

Upon reaching this major milestone, Nick DiBella, senior vice president of operations and sales, expressed his enthusiasm, stating, “We are thrilled to officially open our newest location, Sun Outdoors Islamorada, in the beautiful, sunny Florida Keys. As we continue to offer our guests fun and transformative outdoor experiences, the Islamorada resort is an exciting addition to our portfolio, meeting the continued demand for premium amenities alongside Sun Outdoors’ award-winning quality of service.”

As project manager and construction manager, Atwell is proud to have been involved in the rebuilding of this very important project.

The project team consisted of:

• Architect: ibello Architect, LLC
• Civil engineer: CW-3 Engineering
• General contractor: Burke Construction Group
• Landscape architect: Mike Flaugh, RLA
• Landscape contractor: Gautier Tree & Landscape
• Project and construction manager: Atwell
• Site contractor: LPS Contracting

Luxury apartment buildings overlooking Lake Cecile in Orlando are expected to break ground in the third quarter this year, making it the first major new construction project on the lake since the property was sold. The property falls along an emerging corridor and presents ample opportunity for future projects and development, particularly being located closed to employment centers. Atwell created the conceptual plan while RVi created the landscape plans.

The matrix of residential offerings will include a mix of studios, one-bedroom units, two-bedroom units and three-bedroom units. Separate from the apartment buildings will be a pool and an 8,294-square-foot clubhouse featuring a fitness center, coffee bar, and TV room. Non-residential space will include a co-working space, a dog spa, a large mailroom with lockers, and remaining space on the property for a potential beach or boat launch. Read the full story on Growthspotter.

 

 

For Hank Smith, giving back to his community isn’t just a hobby, it has been a 40-year investment. Hank’s home stands right next door to the Marbridge Assisted Living Campus – a non-profit residential community for adults with a wide range of cognitive disabilities.

The founder of the ranch, Marjorie Bridges, was the mother of an adult with cognitive disorders. She and her husband didn’t want to put their child into a state institution, so they moved into the country and created a community to support others with cognitive disabilities and empower them with the life skills needed to be contributing members of the community. What used to be a ranch for boys has evolved into a community caring for nearly 300 adults with intellectual disabilities.

When Hank got involved in creating a vision for the future 20 years ago, he knew the site had many problems to solve and needs to be met; for example, The Creed Ford 111 Therapeutic Riding Ranch. The riding ranch has been a part of the community since 2006 but can no longer keep up with the current demand. To begin with, the ranch didn’t have any covered areas, so classes had to be canceled whenever the weather became too hot or cold. When it did rain, the drainage system in place caused the horse stalls to flood, resulting in mud pits with only buckets available to collect all the excess water. The stalls themselves were built for miniature horses, but the ranch was home to mainly adult horses. There was no running water and, worst of all, there were no bathrooms near the stalls, so students struggling with incontinence issues would have to walk across the ranch to the dormitories to be cared for. The goal was clear: a new facility would make the ranch more comfortable for horses, staff, and students.

The riding ranch is just one example of Hank’s contributions to the community, alongside Marbridge’s Director. He first assisted the Marbridge Foundation by helping them sell the property to a buyer. The buyer was a homebuilder, and as they built residential homes, they agreed to build cottages on-site where the adults could live. The cottages included four bedrooms with a nursing station in the middle, a common living area, and a kitchen. Hank himself assisted in building a gym, swim center, and laundromat over the years as he has continued to donate his time.

When asked why Hank has given so much time and energy to his neighboring community, he shared the deep connection he had with the ranch. “My parents used to visit the ranch and teach Bible studies when I was a kid, so the ranch has been part of my life for as long as I can remember. I also know how much of an impact this program has on residents,” he shared. “They had one resident who had never spoken in her life. She didn’t talk to her parents, her family, or her doctor. They gave her a horse to take care of, and she immediately started talking to the horse. She won’t talk to people, but she will talk to the horse.”

Hank has been an engineer with Atwell for almost five years. His dedication to supporting his community, his selflessness, and his passion for making a difference is inspirational. The best part of the project, Hank shared, has been “meeting the team who runs the equestrian facility at Marbridge and getting input from them on what they needed. We wanted feedback from people who work at the facilities every day and work with them to really maximize the residence life experience. The residents who take care of the horses and ride the horses, this is where they’re going to live forever. This is their permanent home. So, we wanted to make sure that we were doing everything to fit them. And that was a great experience of sitting down with him to say, alright, what do you guys need?”

Despite the many challenges they’ve faced over the years, the new therapeutic riding ranch is taking shape. The estimated date of completion is March of 2023.

Current property photo by Atwell. Rendering image courtesy of D’Antonio International.

Nestled in the Town of Palm Beach Shores among high-end resorts and a thriving beach community, sits the Seaspray Inn and Beach Resort and Top of the Spray restaurant. For nearly 60 years, the hotel and restaurant have overlooked the Atlantic Ocean and provided accommodations to tourists looking for a beachfront experience without the hustle of well-known hotel chains.

Kennega Glades, LLC is a real estate investment firm with a deep understanding of the South Florida market and the need for multifamily residences and commercial viability. Becoming aware of the Seaspray owners’ recent filing for bankruptcy, Kennega Glades seized the opportunity and bought the .65-acre shuttered hotel with the intention of converting it to 24 modern, amenity boasting, luxury condominiums.

While most would consider removing a vacant, dilapidated building an easily supported project, there were significant obstacles to getting the new residential project approved. The owner and our client, Kennega Glades needed to find solutions to not only work with a difficult site but to engage the community and town officials in securing approvals for the site plan, variances, plat, and architectural designs.

Led by Atwell’s Senior Project Manager, Chuck Millar, the Atwell and RVi team worked diligently to support Kennega Glades in getting 123 Ocean Drive off the ground. We presented at several town meetings and public hearings using information from surveys, plats, and project renderings. Most importantly, we facilitated open dialogue to ensure our requests were not only consistent with the town’s Comprehensive Plan and Land Development Regulations but also complied with the purpose and intent of the specified zoning district. The community’s concerns were addressed and alleviated by explaining the value added with 123 Ocean. Chuck shared that the new six-story complex would include new parking circulation and parking stalls, a new beach equipment storage facility, added EV charging stations, and new lighting fixtures to enhance safety concerns. And to address aesthetics, there would be a new wall between the condominium and park, grassed parking surface, new landscaping, and to preserve the existing dunes ridge condition and vegetation.

Through many meetings and public hearings, our team was able to openly convey the means and methods required for a successful project. The approval of 123 Ocean brings not only a new beautiful high-end multifamily residence, but a significant upgrade, infill, and redevelopment of the Town of Palm Beach Shores oceanfront park, an opportunity for new residential ownership, yearly town ad-valorem taxes of approximately $800,000 and an increase to the town’s overall tax base of approximately $125,000,000.

Designs have been submitted for the 25-story Modera South Eola and the 100,000-square-foot office building called “The Commons” in downtown Orlando. The joint venture of Mill Creek Residential Trust and Highwoods Properties Capital Plaza submitted their design of the multi-use development and are seeking master plan approval, as well as requesting a courtesy review by the city’s Appearance Review Board.

Modera South Eola will contain 400 residential units, a handful of live-work units on the ground level, 6,369 square feet of ground-floor retail space, and an eight-story parking garage. The office building will consist of 6,000 square feet of potential restaurant space and balconies along the north, west, and south elevations on the second and third floors. Separating the two buildings will be the via, a pedestrian promenade with innovative lighting, outdoor furnishings, and a selection of new and existing trees.

Atwell, and our sister company RVi Planning + Landscape Architecture, will be working with SK+I Architecture and Little Diversified/S&ME to provide surveying, civil engineering, and landscape architecture services for the site.

The estimated construction cost is $118 million – $20 million for the office building and $98 million for the residential tower. The tower is expected to start construction in September 2023, and timing for the office building is still to be determined.

Read the full article in Growthspotter.

The Georgia-Japan Peace Bell Tower at The Carter Center

“Everyone do their part.” From 1939 to 1945, this simple phrase was interwoven in the everyday of our grandparents, great grandparents, and for some, great, great, grandparents. The impact of World War II left no-one untouched. For those who did not fight on the battle grounds, their fight would be closer to home through actions such as the rationing and collecting of metals; aluminum, tin, iron, and steel which would be processed and shipped for military use. Not only were these everyday civilian products appropriated, but the many factories creating them were converted to producing products for military vehicles, ammunition, and even our soldiers’ helmets. From our cars, soup cans, coins, to our factories, households, schools, and churches – we all “did our part.”

This sentiment was not restricted to the US – the entire world was feeling these restrictions. This act was the unknown catalyst for Atwell’s recent contribution to The Carter Center in Atlanta, Georgia. This started with a bell.

As the world was sacrificing their metals, a century old bell from the Shoganji Temple in Konu, Hiroshima, Japan (now Myoshi City) was confiscated to be melted down for ammunition. Before the bell could be melted, Germany surrendered followed by Japan, ending the war.

While the bell traveled the globe from Japan to England to the US, future president Jimmy Carter – a believer in peace and reconciliation – was on his own journey, from serving in the Navy to a political career in Georgia. He sought to strengthen ties with the people of Japan by continuing these efforts through his presidency and after.

In 1985, the Shoganji Temple bell was put up for sale, purchased by the Japanese Chamber of Commerce in Atlanta, and presented to President Carter to commemorate the Carter Center’s new campus and recognize the many contributions he drove in connecting our two countries. Several years later, the markings on the bell were transcribed and the origin became known. President Carter insisted that the people of Myoshi City be notified of its existence, and the bell was brought back home. The people, many still old enough to remember the war, refused the bell, citing its rightful place was back in Georgia. Instead, they chose to forge a replica of the bell to be placed in the original bell tower. The new bell was christened the Friendship Bell, and President Carter attended its dedication.

The original bell, dubbed the Peace Bell, has welcomed myriads of visitors to the Carter Center for more than three decades. Recently, Kazuyuki Takeuchi, the consul general of Japan, met with the Japan-America Society of Georgia, the Japanese Chamber of Commerce of Georgia, and the Japan External Trade Organization to discuss moving the bell from the Carter Center lobby to a more permanent structure honoring the bonds of friendship between Atlanta, Georgia and Myoshi City, Japan. This structure, modeled after the Shoro-Do Bell Tower, would not only house the bell, but the cypress wood would be harvested, carved, and dry-fitted by artisans in Hiroshima, Japan, disassembled and shipped to the US where it would be reconstructed and placed on the grounds of the Carter Center.

Several obstacles threatened to sideline the project; from inflated shipping costs, permitting, ownership rights, and basic funding to name a few. In the spirit of what the bell represents, I had formed a friendship with a member of the Japanese Consulate over several years, and together, we offered a solution. Because Atwell has a long-standing history of supporting communities in Georgia, our team was approached to provide survey, civil design, and project management services. We were honored to donate our time to this important project.

Working alongside the teams at The Carter Center, the Japan-American Society of Georgia, and partnering architects, we overcame all obstacles and even assisted in ensuring the design met the requirements of a Japanese Temple. In our own way, we continued strengthening the bonds between our countries.

Founded by Jimmy Carter and wife, Rosalynn Carter, The Carter Center is a foundation held to the ideals and commitment to further humanitarian efforts focusing on conflict resolution, democracy, easing of human suffering, and increasing the commitment to basic human rights for all. With the construction of the Peace Bell Tower at The Carter Center in Atlanta, a legacy of peace and friendship among people of all backgrounds will be preserved for generations.

More than 75 years after WWII, through the efforts of Atwell, The Carter Center, the Japan-American Society of Georgia, and many others, we are all still “doing our part.”

On September 30, 2022, a dedication ceremony for the Peace Bell Tower was held on the grounds of The Carter Center.

After unanimous approval from the Scottsdale City Council, an urban infill site that has been fenced off since 2007 will finally be developed. Located across the street from Scottsdale Fashion Square Mall, Hazel & Azure will be a two-building mixed-use project containing 532 luxury apartment units and more than 14,000 square feet of ground floor commercial space. The complex also includes 837 residential and retail parking spaces and a rooftop pool terrace with beautiful views of Camelback Mountain and the Arizona Canal.

Hazel & Azure is spear-headed by Zom Living, a Florida-based developer that is investing $500 million towards the redevelopment of metro Phoenix. Of the 33 acres of bankruptcy proceedings they purchased, 3.78-aces will be dedicated to Hazel & Azure.

CallisonRTKL is the project architect, Withey Morris is the land use attorney, and Atwell is the civil engineer for the project. Construction documents will be submitted this week with the hope to start pulling permits in the next six months.

Read the full article in Phoenix Business Journal.

Shout out to our Atwell project team: Jim Spring (Team Leader), Ramzi Georges (Team Leader), AJ Saliba (Senior Project Manager), Jared Gardner (Project Engineer), Ross Giles (Project Surveyor), Juliana Afaribea (Engineer), Tiffany Colbourn (Designer), and Brett Hightower (Project Coordinator).