April 22–Jekyll Island Authority board members Russ Kruger, above left, and Richard Royal take in the view of the beach from a room in the Westin Hotel, currently under construction on Jekyll. Below is the site of the former Buccaneer Beach Resort and Georgia Coast Inn, where a Courtyard Marriott hotel and Springhill Suites Marriott hotel is planned. (Bobby Haven/The Brunswick News photos )

Within the span of just a few years, Jekyll Island will be able to better accommodate the growing tourism industry that’s blossomed out of its revitalization efforts.

The Holiday Inn Resort and the Westin Hotel are set to be open between fall and winter 2014, and there’s even more coming down the road.

During Monday’s meeting of the board of the Jekyll Island Authority, the Dallas-based Trammell Crow Company received concept approval to bring two hotels to the state park with another full-service hotel to follow.

The company, working with McKibbon Hotel Group and Lindsay Pope Brayfield Clifford & Associates Inc., will invest almost $90 million to bring a Courtyard Marriott, Springhill Suites by Marriott and an unnamed full-service hotel to the former Buccaneer Beach Resort and Georgia Coast Inn sites. The site encompasses almost 15.5 acres. Phase one will include the 210-room Courtyard Marriott on 5.8 acres and 150-room Springhill Suites on 4.44 acres.

Bob Abberger, senior managing director with Trammell Crow, says he is expecting the schematic designs for phase one to be in by the end of October, with a construction start of June 30, 2015 and opening by June 2016.

However, he would like to see the project move faster and says the company has a goal of having both hotels in phase one open by the end of 2015.

The full-service hotel, with a possible 175 rooms on 5.23 acres, would likely follow within a year’s time.

None of the hotels would exceed four stories in height.

The land is already classified as “developed” and will not count against the new fixed developable acreage total on the island.

Here are three other things to know about Monday’s authority board meeting:

— Ronnie Douglas, manager of the Jekyll Island campground, gave an update on future expansion. The 50-year-old, 18- acre campground has made little improvement in terms of accommodating growing recreational vehicle use, Douglas said, and they are struggling with hitting the occupancy limit. Eventual expansion will help. Because tent camping is on the decline, he said eventual renovations will include converting several tent sites to full hook-up sites, the creation of self-storage units, an enclosed pavilion and bath house upgrades. Though there is no timeline on the projects, the 12 acres set aside for campground expansion will also include a new entrance and store and approximately 40 new full-hook up sites.

— Civil construction on the Jekyll Island Youth and Learning Center should be happening soon. The board approved a civil construction bid to Seaboard Construction, a local company that was the low bidder at around $2.3 million. Construction should be under way by May 1, said JIA Executive Director Jones Hooks.

— The Island Hopper bike trail may have hit a road block. Hooks told the board the group was expecting to put out bids for the project in August, but the Georgia Department of Transportation says it likely won’t be possible until the summer of 2015. “We would like to move forward and we’ll have some dialogue with DOT to see if we can’t move that forward any faster,” Hooks said.

SBlt Reporter Sarah Lundgren writes about education and other local topics. Contact her at [email protected].

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