Downtown project by WCI up in air Developers to speak at council meeting Monday.

Downtown project by WCI up in air Developers to speak at council meeting Monday.
By Betty Parker .
Originally posted on July 15, 2006
IF YOU GO• What: Fort Myers City Council meeting, during which members will hear from WCI representatives about a development project in downtown Fort Myers• When: 4:30 p.m. Monday• Where: City Hall, 2200 Second StFriday's deadline for a response from WCI developers about a development project in downtown Fort Myers passed with no new information provided.Instead, the developers requested time to speak at Monday night's City Council meeting, said Don Paight, Fort Myers' director for downtown redevelopment."Their response was to say they'd like to be on the agenda for Monday night," Paight said, adding the company had that option.
Some council members said they expected more of a response Friday, but would wait.They also said they have little hope the company will stay with the project.
"My sense is that they're going to say 'Thanks but no thanks,'" said Councilman Randy Henderson. "I just hope they say the 'thanks' part."Councilman Warren Wright said he thought city staff gave "misdirection" on the project."If WCI wants to pull out, I really can't blame them" Wright said. "The staff put us in a bad light with a multimillion-dollar company."
Henderson also said there were issues about how the city's staff handled negotiations with the company.At a May meeting WCI officials said they had focused on legal and contractual project details — at city staff direction — instead of design changes council members wanted.
The developers said then they'd put about as much money and time in the project as they were willing to without a contract.City officials, meanwhile, said they wanted design changes before signing the contract.The project appeared stalled, but ended with an agreement that WCI would consider the council's desired changes, and bring back a decision on those details Friday.
Councilman Mike Flanders said earlier this week that if WCI did not have the suggested changes done by Friday, he was ready for negotiations to end."It's like we tried to get married, but we didn't quite make it to the altar," Flanders said. "Now let's all give each other a hug and get on down the road."
The project included a 200-plus room hotel, residential units and retail space on the river in downtown Fort Myers.If WCI does pull out, council members said they'll have to decide what happens next.Council members thought the firm that came in second to WCI when that company was chosen almost two years ago could be a good choice.
But Henderson and Flanders said it's uncertain whether that firm still would be interested.Starting over to solicit a new round of proposals for the city-owned property is another option, they said.