- January 17, 2025
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The decrepit motel property at 2251 Old Dixie Highway, with its broken windows and walls scrawled with graffiti, is under new ownership and will be renovated into a new hotel called "The Henry," named after Henry Flagler.
The former owners paid a combined $69,926 in fines and taxes at closing after selling the property to First Choice Investments this past May, according to a county staff presentation at an Aug. 2 County Commission meeting.
The county government had been pressing the previous owners to clean up the site since 2016.
Since the building's sale, the new owners have demolished and filled in the formerly green and stagnant pool — eliminating a danger that led the health department to impose $45,000 in fines against the former owners — and gutted the hotel rooms on the building's northern side.
"This hotel has been an eyesore to the community at large for a number of years, and the administration, building department and everyone involved is moving as fast as possible to. … remove this stain from Flagler County," county code enforcement officer Scott Simon said at the commission meeting.
The new owners are in the second phase — the demolition and cleanup phase — of a three-part reconstruction project, Simon said. The next step will be the renovation.
First Choice Investments, he added, met with the city's tourism and economic development staff and "appear to have a very aggressive schedule."
County Commissioner David Sullivan called the renovation an opportunity, noting that the county needs hotel space and that a hotel will generate tax money.
