Losing developer in Jekyll Island revitalization considers challenge

Linger Longer selected

September 27, 2007
By BRANDON LARRABEE | Morris News Service  

ATLANTA - The developer who won the opportunity to spearhead the revitalization of Jekyll Island did so while using "a different set of rules," said one of the rivals who lost out on the bid.

Wade Shealy, managing partner of the Jekyll Island Revitalization Group, said he plans to file a legal challenge to the bid with the state authority that selected Linger Longer Communities. At stake are the rights to redevelop an island that many see as an almost sacred vacation area for middle-income Georgians and an opportunity to oversee a project worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

The Jekyll Island Authority, which runs the state park under a lease agreement with the state, voted Monday to select Linger Longer as the private partner for what is expected to be the centerpiece of an effort to overhaul the island's aging tourist infrastructure. Both the Jekyll Island Revitalization Group and Trammell Crow submitted proposals covering a 45-acre site that the authority had specified as the location for a beachfront "town center" that would include hotels, condominiums, retail establishments and a new convention center.

The proposal by Linger Longer, though, spans 63.7 acres - something Shealy said is in violation of the guidelines the authority distributed to potential bidders. The extra room allowed Linger Longer to include more green space and other amenities in its proposal, putting other developers at a disadvantage, Shealy said.

"We feel like the rules in the bid were broken," he said. He pointed to several statements in the authority's "request for proposals," an outline of what the agency was looking for, which he said indicate developers have to stay within the smaller area. "Although the scope of this RFP is limited to the town center redevelopment site, Proposers are invited to comment on their potential interest in subsequent redevelopment opportunities," the document said.

A project executive with Linger Longer, though, said it used the larger area only after the authority said it could do so. "As part of the formal question and answer phase of the proposal process, the Authority was asked if responders could incorporate space outside of the 45-acres mentioned in the RFP, and they responded in the affirmative," Jim Langford wrote in an e-mail. "In our proposal, inclusion of land outside of the 45 acres helps accommodate green space and public areas that we felt would enhance the island's ecosystems and public access to the natural environment."

Documents distributed by Linger Longer, including a question-and-answer exchange with the state, played down the difference between the winning developer's plans and others. "The primary function being served outside of the 45-acre site is the Convention Center and the related parking," Linger Longer said in response to a question from the authority about the overage. "This was done for a couple of reasons. First, we felt the function this building serves does not need to be located on the beach. "Second, our plan allows for the existing convention facility to remain in place while the first phase of the revitalization is completed. "Third, we believe there should be an adjacent relationship between the convention hotel and the convention center."

The document also notes that parts of a low-cost hotel and some retail space fell outside the zone. "Both of these could be reconfigured to be within the 45-acres if that was an absolute 'must,' " it said.