Captiva Island Inn begins $6M rebuild after Hurricane Ian

Sandy Stilwell Youngquist almost shed tears when asked about her beloved Captiva cottages. She did not want to raze the historic Captiva Island Inn’s wood-frame structures after they were destroyed by Hurricane Ian.

After surveying the wreckage in 2022 and meeting with Lee County’s Historic Preservation Board, the restaurant and inn owner decided to demolish most of the original buildings. She had owned the property since 1999.

On Oct. 15, Stilwell Youngquist and her redevelopment team celebrated the groundbreaking of what will become the new-look and more resilient Captiva Island Inn.

The rebuilding project will boost her total from five back to 15 units.

Stevens Construction is managing the project, and MHK Architecture designed it.

“It’s been a wild ride is all I can say,” Stilwell Youngquist said. “When we got to the island after Hurricane Ian and saw the devastation, it was heartbreaking. And I’m getting choked up, because that’s how hard it was, to realize we had to tear it down.”

Only the Gardenia unit on the ground floor and Lantana on the second floor of the two-story cottage adjacent to Keylime Bistro remain at 11508 Andy Rosse Lane. She also owns the nearby, two-unit Celebration House and Harbour House.

Keylime Bistro, RC Otter’s Island Eats, Sunshine Seafood Cafe and Wine Bar and Cantina Captiva are also on part of Stilwell Enterprises & Restaurant Group’s roster on Captiva.

Latte Da, an ice cream and coffee shop, is on track to reopen Nov. 1, she said.

The rebuilt Captiva Island Inn will have two new, five-unit buildings. The one on the south side of Andy Rosse Lane and behind Keylime Bistro will have a U-shaped configuration, while the one on the north side of the road and behind Latte Da will be L-shaped. The central open spaces on each side of the road are needed for the septic tank systems, said Carmella Cioffi, architect with MHK Architecture, which has five offices in Florida and nine overall. Cioffi manages the Sanibel Island office and designed the new inn’s two buildings.

“Those cottages were categorized as having importance historically,” Cioffi said. “We had to go through the Lee County Historic Preservation Board to get approval. They required that the new design harken to the old design. That’s very difficult when you have a building of five units that are all connected, that is resilient and also efficient to build and maintain.

“We kept some detailing from the original building — decorative trim, the window styles and the colors, and we incorporated those into the new buildings.”

Stilwell Youngquist said she chose Cioffi because she would be able to carry out her vision. She plans to bring back the cottage names: Bird of Paradise, Iris, Hibiscus, Daisy, Jasmine, Mimosa, Orchid, Sunflower, Periwinkle and Love Shack.

“I still wanted that quaint, island look,” Stilwell Youngquist said. “It’s still going to look like five different cottages, because we’ll have five different types of siding.”

The construction project will cost about $6 million, she said.

“We can talk about negative cash flow over the last three years,” she said. “All I can say is, thank God I had some money in stocks and good insurance. When it’s all done, it will be better than ever.”

The island business community has been supportive of one another, too, she said.

“I’ve always loved Sanibel and Captiva,” Stilwell Youngquist said.

The project should take about a year to complete, with an opening slated for the late fall of 2026. The aftershocks of Hurricane Ian to the islands’ economy have been severe, Stilwell Youngquist said.

“Home rentals are down,” she said. “Condo rentals are down. Hotels are down. As a result, the restaurants are down. Our economy has really dipped down for tourism. I think it’s because people from up north are hesitant to make reservations during hurricane season. I think by next year, hopefully people will start seeing this as a good destination again.”