News

By Jane Smith
    
    Guy Harvey hoopla has overtaken Boynton Beach.
    “Who doesn’t like Guy Harvey?” Tom McClure responded when asked about a possible hotel going up in Boynton Beach. He is president of Boynton Intracoastal Group, which represents 2,400 residents living along the Intracoastal.
    Guy Harvey Outpost, the hotel brand affiliated with the fisherman/wildlife artist/conservationist, has Florida resorts in Islamorada and St. Pete Beach. A St. Augustine location will open this spring and an RV resort and marina on Lake Okeechobee will open in winter 2018, according to the company’s website.
    The Guy Harvey excitement started last fall when the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency board learned that its executive director had cold-called the company. Vivian Brooks told the board, “I reached out to Guy Harvey resorts and they are interested in downtown Boynton.”
    Brooks sent the resort representative possible sites, including a parcel on the east side of Federal Highway that is owned by Davis Camalier and is near the Boynton Harbor Marina.
    Mayor Jerry Taylor, who sits as the CRA chair, could hardly contain his enthusiasm.
    “That is so exciting,” Taylor said. “If we can get him to bring a hotel here, that would be so tremendous. It would be a good fit with our marina.”
    The marina has two waterfront restaurants — Two Georges and the Banana Boat — offers waterfront living at the Marina Village condos and water activities, including fishing charters, scuba diving charters and watercraft and boat rentals.
    Another possible site is the city’s Town Center, west of Federal Highway, which houses the Historic Boynton Beach High School, City Hall and its police station.
    In mid-January, a representative came to the CRA offices where the mayor met him.
    “I happened to be in the CRA office on Friday when a rep from Guy Harvey, the big sports fisherman, sent their representative to look at what we have available for a hotel in Boynton,” Taylor told the commission audience on Jan. 19. “That would be fantastic if we could pull it off.”
    Kevin DeNell, a Guy Harvey executive vice president in Fort Lauderdale, said, “It’s just too far out there to comment.”
    But that no-comment comment fueled the talk.