VERO BEACH — The Vero Beach City Council Tuesday night unanimously approved plans for Kite Properties to build a moderately priced hotel along Miracle Mile.
The council agreed to re-zone the property directly west of 6th Avenue and straddling 20th Place and 20th Street in order to put in a new 90-room Hampton Inn & Suites, which will provide lodging for between $89 to $119 a night.
Kite Properties, which just opened a SpringHill Suites by Marriott, was able to overcome the concern of Council Member Kevin Sawnick as the construction will displace the popular Rita’s Italian Ice and will be across the street from Osceola Magnet School. “Rita’s could be relocated to one of the vacant rental complexes,” said a representative of Kite Properties.
“The only two issues I had, is I know Rita’s Italian Ice is a stable part of the city,” said Sawnick. “Hopefully they will stay in the city after the hotel goes up. The other issue is that I’ve never seen a hotel situated by an elementary school.”
Osceola Magnet School will be the Hampton’s southern neighbor, but in the end, Sawnick felt that a Miracle Mile location was perfect for Vero Beach’s next hotel.
“There aren’t too many hotels in this area, and it gives people alternatives to the high cost of staying beachside and staying out by I-95,” he said.
The Miracle Mile location would give the hotel vital proximity to both the sprawling shopping centers along 21st Street and the wide array of locally owned restaurants of Royal Palm Pointe by providing hotel rooms between $89 and $119 a night.
“I met Mr. (Kelly) Kite at the SpringHill Grand Opening, and that’s one interesting place,” said councilman Bill Fish. “It was very well done and I’m very enthused about this. He seems like a man who will run a quality operation.”
The new Hampton Inn & Suites will rest on about 2.5 acres. Rita’s is on the outskirts of the new hotel site, as are two multiplex rental properties.
