This 10-acre vacant beachfront property at 801 S. Atlantic is on the fast track for a $100 million Hard Rock hotel and cafe expected to open just in time for the 2016 running of the Daytona 500.
DAYTONA BEACH -- Like a gourmet meal, a Hard Rock hotel/cafe complex is going to be sandwiched between the World's Most Famous Beach and the super speedway with the high banks where they run the Great American Race.
The news certainly traveled fast Thursday with everyone from politicians to tourism officials and even a race car driver.
"They are building a @HARDROCK in Daytona Beach," NASCAR Sprint Cup star Denny Hamlin tweeted.
"They are building a @HARDROCK in Daytona Beach," NASCAR Sprint Cup star Denny Hamlin tweeted.
It even created a burst of energy in what was an otherwise double shift at the County Council in DeLand with Chair Jason Davis of Edgewater and Daytona-area council member Joshua Wagner all, but high-fiving on the dais.
While the $100 million complex is expected to be completed in time for the 2016 running of the Daytona 500, it was an investment in the property four years ago by a Toronto investment firm,Bayshore Capital Inc, that led to the marriage with Hard Rock.
It certainly was welcome news to business executives like Jim Cameron, vice president of government relations for the Daytona Beach Chamber of Commerce, who sees this fueling year-round jobs in this special-events driven city where stock car racing, Bike Week and surfing the curling waves of the Atlantic are the big draws.
"This is going to be good not only for construction jobs, but also long-term jobs for those in the hotel industry," Cameron said.
But first, actual site plans have to be formalized by municipal officials with ongoing discussion expected to result in a re-zoned "planned unit development" that provides for a more flexible design of the complex, with Daytona and Volusia County providing upwards of $3 million in CRA funds.
It's this kind of development that County Chair Davis and others want to see more of.
"Real bricks and mortar," Davis said, "Not rum festivals."
