diverlynn
Hero Member
Came across this the other day...Hope he's better at that then THing...
[h=1]Work starts on floating resort off Key West[/h]
This artist's rendering of the Oceana Water Resort shouts tranquility. Federal officials continue meeting with the developer to determine exactly what's needed to place it in the Gulf of Mexico. KeysNet.com
[h=3]By KEVIN WADLOW[/h] [h=3][email protected][/h]
Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/03/28/2718452/work-starts-on-floating-resort.html#storylink=cpy
A year after he floated the idea for his basically floating Oceana Water Resort in the Gulf of Mexico, Doug Pope still needs his government permits.
But progress toward getting approval for the pioneering project encouraged his Elevated Waters Resorts firm to lay the keel for construction of the Oceana platform in mid-December.
"We're going forward on that end of it," Pope said. "We're not going real fast or pushing to get it done, but we have started."
Pope has formulated plans for his 50-room resort for a decade and contacted the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary in late 2010. The first U.S. Army Corps of Engineers notices for the project came out March 15, 2011.
"Our initial determination is that the proposed action would not have a substantial adverse impact [on essential fish habitat] or federally managed fisheries," the Corps said in its initial statement.
Pope's firm, based in Middleburg, seeks Corps of Engineers approval to place the six-story resort at an open-water Gulf of Mexico site about 16 miles northwest of Key West.
As proposed, the resort would be built on a 230-foot-by-128-foot platform, raised over the gulf surface atop four semi-permanent pilings on pads resting on the sea floor, 55 to 60 feet down.
Pope said he has met in conference with the Corps and several other federal agencies, and expects another session to be scheduled in the near future. A Corps permitting officer confirmed the project is still under review.
"We're waiting," Pope said. "I understand that since no one has ever done this before, it's taking them a while to figure things out."
"So far, everybody's been very supportive," he said.
The Environmental Protection Agency will require a permit for discharge of saltwater that goes through Oceana's on-board desalination system to produce fresh water, Pope said.
"That's the only thing the EPA wants, and it's not a problem," he said. "I feel we're just about to the point where we can get going."
Once construction goes into full gear, it could be two years before Oceana floats out to its site, selected as an area with few bottom-dwelling organisms that could be affected.
"We've still got some engineering to do," he said.
Pope, a captain and professional treasure salvor, has worked on the Santa Margarita and Atocha shipwreck sites off Key West. He is an expert in the use of a jack-up boat, which holds its position by lowering four pilings to the bottom.
The Oceana would be registered as a vessel, essentially a much larger version of Pope's jack-up workboat. Oceana costs are estimated at $20 million.
The prospect of creating a semi-permanent liveaboard resort far from land concerns some conservationists, who remain skeptical that Pope would be able to safeguard the surrounding marine habitat from damage. However, Pope has said he expects the resort to actually improve the environment through use of green technology and marine cleanup efforts.
Pope sees the resort as a getaway for avid fishermen who could rent boats at the resort after arriving on a shuttle boat from Key West. Rooms would run about $600 nightly, he said. A staff of 35 would serve the 100 people on board at any time.
Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/03/28/2718452/work-starts-on-floating-resort.html#storylink=cpy
Feds seek more info on offshore hotel
BY TIMOTHY O'HARA Citizen Staff
[email protected]
The Army Corps of Engineers wants more information on a proposed floating hotel off Key West before the regulatory agency can approve or deny a permit for the project.
The agency late last month sent developer Doug Pope a letter with a series of questions, including how the hotel would impact coral, handle a fuel spill, remove trash and other debris, be placed on the sea floor and conduct routine maintenance.
Pope and the Army Corps still need to resolve the issue of whether the hotel, tentatively called Oceana, should be regulated as a ship or a structure.
"Please note that while the U.S. Coast Guard has deemed the Oceana a vessel, the corps would consider it a structure while the legs are 'spudded' on the sea floor bottom," Project Manager Megan Clouser said in the Sept. 30 letter. "Please also provide the copy of the maintenance plan which will explain how the cleaning of the legs, etc. will occur."
Pope maintained the hotel would be a vessel and should be treated as such. It would sit in about 50 feet of water and be secured by four posts that could raise it above the waterline. Though the hotel is designed to withstand 200 mph winds, it could be evacuated in the event of such a storm, Pope said.
"I can jack it up and move it in an hour," Pope said Monday.
Pope questioned why the approval process is taking so long and this month began asking the corps about the holdups, he said.
Pope said he still is securing financing for the $20 million to $24 million project and hoped to obtain corps permits before starting construction by the end of the year in Green Coast Springs, Fla. The hotel would take a year to 1 1/2 years to build and then would be towed to Key West via barge, he said.
The hotel would provide 40 jobs to 55 jobs and generate $15 million a year in "gross" profits, Pope said.
The 230-by-128-foot-wide hotel would be placed off the Northwest Channel, roughly 16 miles off Key West, for a four- to five-year period, according to his permit application. Pope said Oceana is designed to last 30 years and that he would operate it as long as it is profitable.
Oceana would have 45 hotel rooms, five suites, seven swimming pools as well as bars, restaurants and storage for as many as 15 small fishing boats, Pope said.
Pope is the president of Amelia Research & Recovery, a treasure salvaging company based in Middleburg, Fla. His crews live on the Polly-L, a barge off Amelia Island upon which he based his design for Oceana.
[h=1]Work starts on floating resort off Key West[/h]
This artist's rendering of the Oceana Water Resort shouts tranquility. Federal officials continue meeting with the developer to determine exactly what's needed to place it in the Gulf of Mexico. KeysNet.com
[h=3]By KEVIN WADLOW[/h] [h=3][email protected][/h]
Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/03/28/2718452/work-starts-on-floating-resort.html#storylink=cpy
A year after he floated the idea for his basically floating Oceana Water Resort in the Gulf of Mexico, Doug Pope still needs his government permits.
But progress toward getting approval for the pioneering project encouraged his Elevated Waters Resorts firm to lay the keel for construction of the Oceana platform in mid-December.
"We're going forward on that end of it," Pope said. "We're not going real fast or pushing to get it done, but we have started."
Pope has formulated plans for his 50-room resort for a decade and contacted the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary in late 2010. The first U.S. Army Corps of Engineers notices for the project came out March 15, 2011.
"Our initial determination is that the proposed action would not have a substantial adverse impact [on essential fish habitat] or federally managed fisheries," the Corps said in its initial statement.
Pope's firm, based in Middleburg, seeks Corps of Engineers approval to place the six-story resort at an open-water Gulf of Mexico site about 16 miles northwest of Key West.
As proposed, the resort would be built on a 230-foot-by-128-foot platform, raised over the gulf surface atop four semi-permanent pilings on pads resting on the sea floor, 55 to 60 feet down.
Pope said he has met in conference with the Corps and several other federal agencies, and expects another session to be scheduled in the near future. A Corps permitting officer confirmed the project is still under review.
"We're waiting," Pope said. "I understand that since no one has ever done this before, it's taking them a while to figure things out."
"So far, everybody's been very supportive," he said.
The Environmental Protection Agency will require a permit for discharge of saltwater that goes through Oceana's on-board desalination system to produce fresh water, Pope said.
"That's the only thing the EPA wants, and it's not a problem," he said. "I feel we're just about to the point where we can get going."
Once construction goes into full gear, it could be two years before Oceana floats out to its site, selected as an area with few bottom-dwelling organisms that could be affected.
"We've still got some engineering to do," he said.
Pope, a captain and professional treasure salvor, has worked on the Santa Margarita and Atocha shipwreck sites off Key West. He is an expert in the use of a jack-up boat, which holds its position by lowering four pilings to the bottom.
The Oceana would be registered as a vessel, essentially a much larger version of Pope's jack-up workboat. Oceana costs are estimated at $20 million.
The prospect of creating a semi-permanent liveaboard resort far from land concerns some conservationists, who remain skeptical that Pope would be able to safeguard the surrounding marine habitat from damage. However, Pope has said he expects the resort to actually improve the environment through use of green technology and marine cleanup efforts.
Pope sees the resort as a getaway for avid fishermen who could rent boats at the resort after arriving on a shuttle boat from Key West. Rooms would run about $600 nightly, he said. A staff of 35 would serve the 100 people on board at any time.
Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/03/28/2718452/work-starts-on-floating-resort.html#storylink=cpy
Feds seek more info on offshore hotel
BY TIMOTHY O'HARA Citizen Staff
[email protected]
The Army Corps of Engineers wants more information on a proposed floating hotel off Key West before the regulatory agency can approve or deny a permit for the project.
The agency late last month sent developer Doug Pope a letter with a series of questions, including how the hotel would impact coral, handle a fuel spill, remove trash and other debris, be placed on the sea floor and conduct routine maintenance.
Pope and the Army Corps still need to resolve the issue of whether the hotel, tentatively called Oceana, should be regulated as a ship or a structure.
"Please note that while the U.S. Coast Guard has deemed the Oceana a vessel, the corps would consider it a structure while the legs are 'spudded' on the sea floor bottom," Project Manager Megan Clouser said in the Sept. 30 letter. "Please also provide the copy of the maintenance plan which will explain how the cleaning of the legs, etc. will occur."
Pope maintained the hotel would be a vessel and should be treated as such. It would sit in about 50 feet of water and be secured by four posts that could raise it above the waterline. Though the hotel is designed to withstand 200 mph winds, it could be evacuated in the event of such a storm, Pope said.
"I can jack it up and move it in an hour," Pope said Monday.
Pope questioned why the approval process is taking so long and this month began asking the corps about the holdups, he said.
Pope said he still is securing financing for the $20 million to $24 million project and hoped to obtain corps permits before starting construction by the end of the year in Green Coast Springs, Fla. The hotel would take a year to 1 1/2 years to build and then would be towed to Key West via barge, he said.
The hotel would provide 40 jobs to 55 jobs and generate $15 million a year in "gross" profits, Pope said.
The 230-by-128-foot-wide hotel would be placed off the Northwest Channel, roughly 16 miles off Key West, for a four- to five-year period, according to his permit application. Pope said Oceana is designed to last 30 years and that he would operate it as long as it is profitable.
Oceana would have 45 hotel rooms, five suites, seven swimming pools as well as bars, restaurants and storage for as many as 15 small fishing boats, Pope said.
Pope is the president of Amelia Research & Recovery, a treasure salvaging company based in Middleburg, Fla. His crews live on the Polly-L, a barge off Amelia Island upon which he based his design for Oceana.
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?Interesting.
