A new luxury condominium project could bring high-end buyers and fresh investment to Daytona Beach’s beachside, but some residents are questioning whether the changes are worth it.
Residents voiced their opinions at a city meeting Sept. 10 on a potential development, The Aegean, an 11-story, Greek-inspired condo, that would be constructed off the Halifax River between the Veterans Memorial Bridge and West International Speedway Boulevard.
Some say the $200 million, privately funded project would bring jobs and new investment to some of the city’s struggling businesses. Others contend it would disrupt the beachside’s peace and quiet.
Officials have yet to decide if the project will be coming to Daytona Beach, but will consider local opinions in its review process before it heads to the city’s planning board. If planning board members recommend the development, the city commission will need to approve it, too.
Residents say it would bring a boater-friendly community to Daytona Beach
The Aegean condos would include a four-stop antique water taxi, servicing unit owners and locals across the Halifax River to Beach Street area businesses including Caribbean Jack’s, Riverside Johnny’s, Mama Foo Foo and Chart House.
It would also include an 88-slip marina for public and private use, which longtime Beachside resident Barbara Walla said could transform a largely quiet stretch of the Halifax River into a more vibrant boating destination.
Walla, 83, was one of about 30 people at the meeting who currently lives on the beachside.
She used to live in southwest Florida in the Punta Gorda area, a premier boating destination in the state, and said bringing a water taxi and big marina to the area could put Daytona Beach on the map in a similar scale.
A rendering of The Aegean complex shows the 88-slip marina. The marina would include 64 slips available for public use and 24 for private use.
“You’ve got resources here and no one’s using it [Halifax River],” she said, adding it could help currently struggling businesses along Beach Street. “It would bring people with great means here.”
Lisa Goetz-DiNicolo, a beachside resident who has lived in the area since 1957, shared a similar sentiment, and said The Aegean project could help restore the surrounding area into what it once was.
Goetz-DiNicolo, 71, recalled growing up and going to Lenox Park with her friends. Nowadays, she said it doesn’t see the same traffic. Incoming money would change that.
The developer, Emerald Financial, pledged a one-time $500,000 donation to revitalize the park, along with a $25,000 per year donation to continue its maintenance.
“It was a community place. All the kids gathered there. It was life for me, and the best thing you could possibly think,” she said. “This project, what’s there not to like?”
Along with the half-million pledge to Lenox Park, Emerald Financial also pledged $750,000 to maintain local streets from Silver Beach to Lenox Avenue and $50,000 per year for the future. That would include constructing new sidewalks, street lighting and crosswalks.
A document given out at the Sept. 10 meeting states the developer would put a one-time, $1.25 million deposit into escrow upon permit approval, too.
“I think it’s fabulous,” Goetz-DiNicolo said. “I’ve never seen anything so beautiful come up in Daytona.”
Would the Aegean project bring more jobs to the area?
One resident at the meeting, Dr. Michael Lloyd, the grandson of Merrill Lloyd, the founder of Lloyd’s Electric, said the city needs to put an emphasis on creating new jobs.
While the new development is expansive with several bars, restaurants and shops proposed, the New Smyrna-based architect Kevin Schweizer said the actual square footage of those shops will be somewhat small — about 3,600 square feet of retail space.
“The community needs jobs in this area,” Lloyd, 47, said. “Having tourists come in and enjoy our environment is great, and bring that tourist revenue in, but we need some jobs because we don’t want our tourists to be at risk for any poverty situation.”
A rendering shows one of the pools that could be constructed as part of The Aegean condominium project. A YouTube video from the architect states one pool would be 15,300 square feet.
“You all have the initiative, the nice, pretty drawings and the deep pockets, but we need to discuss some economic development opportunities,” he said.
U.S. Census Bureau data states the average per person income in Daytona Beach is lower than the national average, with residents making $33,371 on average per year and 20.4% of the population living in poverty. The average per person income in the U.S. in 2025 was about $76,000, according to Federal Reserve Economic Data.
Rob Merrell, an attorney for the law firm, Cobb Cole, who is representing the owner, said jobs would be created from construction, condominium staff and retail shops.
Why do some residents have worries?
Other longtime residents at the meeting said they moved to the beachside solely for its peace and quiet, aside from traffic during special events like Bike Week.
Changing that, they said, would disturb the city of Daytona Beach’s makeup.
“They bought there for privacy, not to live next to an 11-story commercial-style development with a marina and water taxi,” Tabitha Miller, a 62-year-old resident, said. “It’s too tall, too dense and completely out of scale with the surrounding single-family and low residential area.”
Resident Amanda Glugover expressed similar concerns, citing historical homes and buildings like the Lilian Place Museum and its neighboring Hotchkiss House in the area.
Both homes are over a century old and located just a few blocks away from the proposed development.
“This doesn’t fit into the historical area,” Glugover, 56, said. “We bought our homes for the sake of its historical privacy, this is going to totally negate all of that.”
While Schweizer advertises the proposed project as a low impact and environmentally friendly development with rainwater harvesting, camouflaged solar panels, roof gardens, tropical landscaping and a “living sea wall,” meant to provide a habitat for fish and reduce wave energy, Glugover said she’s still hesitant.
Merrell, of Cobb Cole, said the development team would also use traffic experts and engineers to determine whether the surrounding road network could accommodate the additional vehicles. If improvements are needed, he said, roadway upgrades would be made.
But Glugover questioned the statement’s validity, especially having experienced traffic jams firsthand, she said.
“I keep hearing you say it’s going to be low impact, low impact, and I don’t see it,” she said, emphasizing what she expects to be negative traffic effects. “I don’t even know how we’re going to come and go from this on the South Peninsula.”
Kairi Lowery covers growth and development and breaking news in Volusia County for The News-Journal. She can be reached at Klowery@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Proposed 11-story luxury condo on Daytona’s beachside splits locals
