Melbourne's Lakoona Beach complex with Crystal Lagoon still stalled awaiting FAA approval
Behind-the-scenes work continues on Lakoona Beach, Melbourne's high-profile development slated to someday bring retail, restaurants and aquatic entertainment off NASA Boulevard.
It's been 19 months since the Melbourne City Council approved the sale of 54 acres of airport-owned property for $8.93 million to Adëlon Capital. The Hollywood development-investment firm hopes to construct a 5- to 7-acre manmade, clearwater Crystal Lagoon to anchor its Lakoona Beach's commercial complex.
But the Federal Aviation Administration must first approve the land sale before the vision becomes reality — and the agency's slow process continues dragging along "a lot longer than anyone could have predicted," Melbourne Orlando International Airport Executive Director Greg Donovan said back in January.
December 2022 story: Crystal Lagoon land sale approved for Lakoona Beach aquatic complex in Melbourne
The FAA has finally granted conditional approval to release this land for sale to private hands. But before finalizing the deal, the agency has requested environmental information. Why? A portion of the wooded property was historically used as a landfill dating to the days of Naval Air Station Melbourne, but many details remain unknown. The landfill closed in 1969, according to FLORIDA TODAY archives.
Now, Environmental Science Associates Corp., an Orlando firm, is wrapping up a $201,722 environmental assessment of the site. This report should be released in 30 to 45 days, said Mark Busalacchi, airport director of business development and marketing.
In a phone interview, Jonathan Cohen, Adëlon Capital founder and co-chairman, said, "hopefully, everything will be a green light" to proceed with Lakoona Beach design, engineering and construction.
The future swimming lagoon site lies off the south side of NASA Boulevard, between Broadband Drive and Woody Burke Drive. A boardwalk is planned with retail shops, restaurants, entertainment and a water park.
"The heart of it is a Crystal Lagoon, which is an artificial lagoon with beach," Cohen said on the June 23 episode of the Melbourne Regional Chamber's "411 on the 321" podcast.
"And I know that we already have a beach here. But imagine, in the middle of the city, having the opportunity to be in the beach where there's no sharks, your kids are safe. And you can bring that (beach) lifestyle inside the city, which we're creating right now," Cohen said.
"It's going to be a lot of retail. It has to be a place where you can live, eat and play," he said.
Back in January, the Melbourne Airport Authority unanimously approved an extension of Adëlon Capital's land purchase agreement. This document:
Extended the developer's due diligence period for another year while the FAA completes its analysis.
Lets the developer include furnished hotel rentals of up to six months and extended-stay accommodations in the mixed-use project.
States the MAA will reimburse Adëlon Capital up to $250,000 in land sale proceeds to pay for removal and cleanup of construction debris, in the event the company's cleanup costs exceed the $200,000 mark.
"They had to put everything to a stop. They didn't want to put good money towards something that might not be approved by the FAA. And we certainly didn't want to see that, either," Donovan said during that Jan. 24 meeting.
During a May 22 MAA discussion, Donovan said the ongoing environmental assessment is not specific to the Lakoona Beach project. Rather, it is "a necessary component" that is required before the airport can sell or develop the 54-acre parcel, per the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969.
Donovan said airport officials will seek cleanup grants if they are deemed necessary, but he labeled that avenue "pure speculation" until the environmental assessment occurs.
Crystal Lagoons feature water treated in a closed system to offer "a unique, patented, sustainable and eco-friendly process to keep the lagoon a beautiful blue, year-round," an Adëlon Capital press release said.
"There are many environmental advantages to the Crystal Lagoons technology, including its use of up to 100 times fewer chemicals and only two percent of the energy compared to conventional swimming pools. It will use a fraction of the water of a typical golf course or even a natural park of the same size," the press release said.
Adëlon Capital developed the 142-room Hyatt Place Melbourne Airport hotel, which opened in June 2023 just west of the passenger terminal.
The firm also developed Palm Bay's Hyatt Place and Home2 Suites by Hilton hotels near Space Coast Harley-Davidson and Parasol Melbourne, the 159-unit apartment complex at Dairy Road and Palm Bay Road.
During the podcast, Cohen said his company is in the site-plan approval process to build 260 multifamily housing units in Palm Bay. He hopes to start construction next year, but he discussed how skyrocketing insurance rates are impacting everyone from developers to family households.
"With interest rates going up, we're facing a very difficult time for new development. Every developer now is 'pencils down.' But what is actually now killing most of our projects is insurance policies," Cohen said.
" ... I can underwrite a portion: hard costs, soft costs, construction costs, price per square foot. We cannot underwrite insurance. It's like telling my customer, 'You know your reservation for the night? You know what? I need to raise it 20% — because (they just raised my insurance policy) 40% or 50%. So it's killing everyone," he said.
Rick Neale is a Space Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Neale at Rneale@floridatoday.com. Twitter/X: @RickNeale1
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Crystal Lagoon retail complex in Melbourne awaits environmental review
