A Chicago developer will use the property from The Carousel Beach Inn on Fort Myers Beach, which sold for $7,000,000, to complete a luxury residential development. When people in the area hear about Gulfside Twelve, a new development with prices starting at just under $4,000,000 a unit, they’re concerned about the direction the beach might be heading in. Denise Molz, a Cape Coral resident, said she knows the beach will have to be rebuilt better than before but hopes it doesn’t come at the cost of its charm. “It sounds exciting. But then, if it’s going to take away from that old vintage feel Fort Myers Beach, then that’s not good,” Molz said. “It’s a touristy place, but in the same breath, it has that old. You know, it’s been here forever, like…You don’t want to lose that like you can bring in new, but I think they need to keep a good balance between the two,” Molz said. Another view of what Gulfside Twelve would look like. CREDIT: Dublin Real Estate Developing Group, LLC Tim O’Neill, CEO of Dublin Real Estate Developing Group LLC, is in charge of the project and said he is well aware of people’s concerns. “We’re really aware of Fort Myers and how it’s always been, which is a great family vacation spot, with, you know, really fun, low-key atmosphere. You know, so we really wanted to build a product that fit into the community and which is very beachy, very casual,” O’Neill said. While there’s no denying it will be fancy, O’Neill said the goal of Gulfside Twelve is to enhance Fort Myers Beach, not upstage it. “I get the fact that people don’t want to see a Miami-type atmosphere. But, you know, Miami clientele, it’s just a different clientele over, you know, on the gulf side, it’s very much casual, very much laid back, the star of the show is, you know, the sand, the sun, and the beach. And I don’t think that that’s going to change,” O’Neill said. Plans for Gulfside Twelve were actually in development as early as Oct. 2021, so O’Neill wants people to know this isn’t a development popping up as a result of the hurricane. He also said that most buyers, so far, seem to be either from the area or people who have been visiting for years.