Sep. 27--Steve L. Kruse got into the hotel business in 1990 by acquiring a string of 1940s apartment buildings, one by one, until he had eight in a row. 
 

He fixed them up, built a deck to connect them and called it the Pelican Beach Resort. Now he's demolishing his aging hotel to erect a grander version. It will have 157 units, mostly suites, and offer a nostalgic seaside resort design like the Grand Floridian at Walt Disney World.  Kruse and his family proposed a half-dozen versions of the hotel in the past seven years to find one that met all of Fort Lauderdale's ordinances and suited the neighbors of the 109-room resort at 2000 N. Atlantic Blvd., just south of The Palms condominium.  "We worked in concert with all the neighborhood groups," Kruse said, before settling on a modest 11-story height for the building.

New Tower Rendering  Pelican Beach Resort 2000 North Atlantic Boulevard  Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Unlike other hoteliers with plans for Fort Lauderdale beach, Kruse has secured financing for the hotel, from Union Planters Bank. Kruse declined to put a value on the project, but similar hotels built in Fort Lauderdale recently have cost between $30 million and $40 million. 

Until the 2001 terror attacks, the Pelican Beach had been averaging 91 percent occupancy at rates of $120 a night, Kruse said. 

The past year has brought "some slowdown," he said. 

But good times or bad, Kruse is convinced his location is a winner. He has 500 feet of oceanfront on the east side of A1A, making it one of the few resorts in Fort Lauderdale directly on the sand. 

"Nothing between you and the beach," is how Kruse put it. 

The Pelican Beach closed after Labor Day, except for 25 suites on the north end, which will remain open during the 13-month construction period. When it re-opens in 2004, Kruse said he expects to charge about $200 a night. That's double the county average but competitive for newly built oceanfront suites of between 600 to 1,200 square feet. 

"One of our goals is to maintain a reasonable rate here," he said. 

Kruse got into hotels after a career as a commercial builder. He has business interests in Maine as well as South Florida, where he also owns small office buildings. 

After he assembled the eight-building Pelican Beach, he linked up with Best Western, an affiliation he plans to keep at the new resort. 

The two- and three-story apartments were a charming discovery for many guests, but running them was a chronic maintenance challenge. 

The new building will solve those problems and more. The plumbing system in the tower will be designed to recycle graywater from showers and sinks to flush the toilets and irrigate the landscaping. An innovative system will maximize electrical use during non-peak hours. 

Kruse is reserving a big area for a large pool, which will have a lazy river slide to appeal to his family-oriented clientele. A cafeteria-type restaurant will focus on breakfast and lunch. 

For parents, Kruse has designed an adults-only veranda that stretches across the 200-foot length of the oceanfront side of the hotel. 

By using a space-saving mechanical car stacker, Kruse cut the parking garage from two levels to one, reducing building height by 6 feet. 

When it comes to family, Kruse finds them on both sides of the front desk. 

Several members of his own clan help him run the hotel. 

Kruse's wife, Jackie, is the creative director and has taken charge of the pool design. 

His son and daughter-in-law are property manager and general manager, respectively, while a daughter manages reservations, a brother works in maintenance and a second daughter-in-law heads up sales. 

All told, the resort employs about 40 people, a figure expected to double when the new building opens. 

Jackie Kruse said the drive market from Naples, Fort Myers and Miami would be a key market for the hotel, which will be positioned as a more affordable family vacation. 

With its casual restaurant and lazy river pool, "It's not Disney," she said. "But a lot of families can't afford Disney anymore." 

Nicki Grossman, president of the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau, said the new Pelican is an example of how South Florida hotels can piggyback on the marketing dollars spent by Orlando attractions by pitching themselves as "part 2" of a Florida trip. 

"I've always believed that after a Mickey Mouse vacation, that people would want to see the real Florida," Grossman said. 

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