Volusia County, FL - In Thursday's County Council meeting, members discussed the possibility of a Hard Rock Hotel in Daytona Beach once again.
Council member and County Manager James T. Dinneen presented the idea to the Council on the behalf of a representative of the owner of Summit Hospitality Management Group, a hotel and restaurant management company, Abbas Abdulhussein. The company is seeking to extend the date of the hotel completion to the end of the year, instead of May 7, and to change the franchise name.
Dinneen clarified that the request to change the date of completion is due to the company's desire to change the newly re-done Desert Inn from the Westin Hotel to a Hard Rock Hotel. The Council approved a request to return to the subject during the next meeting on April 20 and to consider amending ordinance 2015-07 to allow for the date and name change.
"This is good for all parties in Volusia County. It is good for development. It is good for investment," says Deborah Denys, Vice Chair of the Council, to the representative for Summit Hospitality Management Group. "I thank you for hanging in there and working with us and bringing back a better project than you probably ever imagined at the beginning. We are very fortunate that you have to continue to work with Volusia County."
County Chair, Ed Kelley, was also happy with the plans for a new Hard Rock Hotel. "I think the community is going to be overwhelmed, seeing that we have a destination," says Kelley. "This will fit right in the plan with the East ISB corridor."
Kelley was concerned, however, about the project in the event of another hurricane like Hurricane Matthew. He said that if such an event were to occur that would cause delay, that he "would like to not see this have to come back for an extension."
Council members also discussed that if another boardwalk were to ever be built, that it, along with the Hard Rock Hotel, pier, shops and Ritchey Plaza, would become an anchor, drawing more people to the area.
For more information on the next meeting (April 20), go here.
Photo courtesy of Congarashu and Shutterstock.com.
Copyright Southern Stone Communications 2017.
