GULF SHORES — Gulf Shores Mayor Robert Craft and developers officially broke ground on the much-anticipated Embassy Suites on Nov. 3, a project that has been in the works since 2018.

The eight-story property will include 257 all-suite beachfront rooms, a lobby bar and restaurant, rooftop terrace, bar and grille, pool deck, outdoor entertainment venue, 13,620 square feet of meeting space, a ballroom and a three-story parking garage.

The resort will also feature 7,618 square feet of leasable retail space and the first-ever Starbucks in Gulf Shores. Rachael Farr, corporate communications director for Robins and Morton Construction, said the details of the Starbucks are still in the works and will be made public at a later date.

The resort, which will be at 112 W. Beach Blvd., is just steps away from the newly renovated Gulf Place public beach access and is projected to be completed in summer 2025.

"We are excited, and I can't tell you how much it means for us to be able to re-envision our shores," Craft said. "This beach over here did not look like that five years ago. It looked like when I graduated from Foley High School in 1969. So, we were at work through programs to get enough money to re-envision and rebuild our beach area across the street and create a view for something like this."

The project is a collaboration with DD Partners LLC, Peachtree Group, Robins and Morton Construction and Woodbine Development Corporation. According to Craft, the city previously worked with Robins and Morton to construct The Lodge at Gulf State Park.

"Our dedication to this has been long, and I thank everyone who has been aboard," Craft said.

Some may remember the construction timeline for the project was re-scheduled several times since the initial announcement in June 2018.

According to Matt Self, senior project manager at Robins and Morton, the project faced several challenges including record inflation, debt market and the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Unfortunately, every project goes through its challenges, and this project without question had more challenges than usual," Self said. "But with all that being said, we're excited about this project, and it's going to be something that the cities can be proud of, and we are super excited about the quality of this project and what it's going to bring to the city."

A history of the project

In June 2018, Craft announced the city had reached an agreement with DD Partners LLC, a development team led by Birmingham-based developer Rob Durham and Marietta, Georgia-based developer Ron Day, to construct an $85 million mixed-use development.

When announced, the project was to include a 398,000-square-foot building anchored by a 229-room Embassy Suites hotel with a fine dining restaurant, street-front retail and a 23,000-square-foot outdoor rooftop area with pool, bar, lounge and event terrace.

Additional amenities announced included nearly 12,000 square feet of conference space, including a 7,800-square-foot ballroom, full-service spa, indoor pool and fitness center.

At the time of the announcement, the development team said they expected to complete all necessary permitting by the end of 2018 and begin construction in early 2019. Later, the start date was announced as July 1, 2019, with a projected opening of late fall 2021.

Then, in June 2019, the developers tweaked the timeline and planned to begin construction in January 2020 and open in late March 2022. At a Dec. 2, 2019, Gulf Shores City Council meeting, the developers received permission from the city to push the timeline once again. The new projected start day was set for September 2020, with a July 4, 2022, completion date.

Along with the push of the start date, the developer at the time, King Scovell with Woodbine Development, informed council they were looking to take square footage out of the building to lower costs, "none of which has compromised the amenities, streetscape, room count or parking. It has taken quite a bit of time to get there, so we are asking for a little more time in 2020."

The project was reduced from the originally planned 10 floors to eight. The amenity deck was also reduced from two floors to one, but the number of rooms, retail and amenities was not reduced.

By October 2021, D.D. Partners LLC returned to council to request the fifth extension and added a substantial financial payment to the city as a good-faith gesture of their commitment.

Council granted the extension, which pushed the project start date to June 30, 2022, with a completion date of Sept. 30, 2024. D.D. Partners LLC offered $400,000 (to be paid in two payments of $200,000 each) as a good-faith gesture of their commitment and confidence in the project.