Almost four years after Hurricane Ian left a 14-unit condominium complex in ruins on Sanibel Island, the owners finally celebrated the groundbreaking of a replacement.

 

Benchmark General Contractors and Gulf Beach Condominium commemorated the groundbreaking Sept. 4, just 24 days before the fourth anniversary of Ian. Even the groundbreaking ceremony featured the threat of another delay. “When we got the shovels in hand, the skies cleared,” said Leo Farley, president of the Gulf Beach Condominium Association. Between Ian’s arrival and now, the original condominiums at 527 E. Gulf Drive, about a quarter-mile from the Sanibel Lighthouse, have sat vacant while the owners sorted through insurance claims, the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s 50% rule and the decision to rebuild. “The primary reason was we were trying to figure out if we could repair the building rather than replace it,” Farley said. “That was the first hurdle we had to get through. The second one was the amount of money. People wanted to understand what kind of a check they were going to have to write.”

Construction is underway at the Gulf Beach Condominium site on Sanibel, where the replacement building will have the same footprint as the Hurricane Ian-damaged complex but will be elevated about 5 additional feet.

Rebuilding the 28,542-square-foot condo building will cost about $6.5 million — about $464,285 per owner for about 1,100 square feet of living space.

That construction cost includes the shell of the building, common areas, a new pool, electrical wiring and plumbing.

 

“The rest of the building, for the cabinetry and the flooring, the lighting fixtures, will be the responsibility of the owners,” Farley said. “Each owner can customize that.”

The condo association is still working with the flood insurance company on getting a return. Benchmark General Contractors is managing the demolition, which recently began.

Although the complex will have the same footprint, the buildings will be elevated by about 5 additional feet. Farley recounted how Ian destroyed the original, which was elevated.

“The building was about 10 feet above the ground level,” Farley said. “We had storm surges from Ian that were 12 to 13 feet tall. The way the building was built, it had a cement pad for parking underneath the building. There were two floors of seven units each. With the storm surge, there was not just one wave. It was repetitive.”

The surge raised the entire structure off the concrete pilings, ramming it back down into them, Farley said.

“It dropped it down several times,” Farley said. “That created energy that literally cracked and fractured some of the flooring panels on the second level. It rippled through the building. Residents on the upper level, they could literally look down and see gaps down to the garage level.

“The top floor, to finish out our horror story, we didn’t get flooded. But the gusts of wind that came through, it went up underneath through the faucets. The roof didn’t get blown off, but it blew most of the drywall out on the third floor.”

Doug Hrabik, vice president of operations for Benchmark General Contractors, compared this project to By the Sea, a condo construction project being finished off West Gulf Drive, about halfway across the southern side of Sanibel.

“It is a scaled-down version of By the Sea,” Hrabik said. “It’s about a third of what By the Sea is. It’s been a great experience. I’ve been out here now a full year. It’s a nice place to work.”

Brad Nickel, president of Benchmark General Contractors, said his team is going to test the original concrete pilings to see if they can be used again. There will be about 200 pilings driven about 20 to 30 feet into the ground to stabilize the structure.

“As long as the tests come back positive, it’s definitely something unique you don’t see every day,” Nickel said of what would be a cost-cutting move. “We’re going full speed ahead.”

Michael Stewart did the engineering of the site. Michael Sheeley of MK Architecture designed the new building.

Most of the original condo owners remain on board for the rebuild, Farley said.

“I know one owner who is aging out,” Farley said. “They’re already in their 80s. There are other folks who said, ‘You know, we’re done with it.’ This has been too much of a traumatic experience.”

Farley, who has a background in corporate finance, decided to see the condo project through to being rebuilt.

“It’s truly unique,” Farley said of the land. “It’s a beautiful piece of property. It’s on the east end of the island with access to the Gulf. I think that helped a lot of folks weather the trials and tribulations we went through.”