This is how the National Park Service proposes to see new lodging facilities laid out at Flamingo in Everglades National Park/NPS

While the results remain to be seen, Everglades National Park officials are demonstrating some fiscal creativity in their bid to see lodging returned to Flamingo, a popular area of the park that has been beaten and bruised by hurricanes.

Rather than wait for a willing concessionaire to build lodging at Flamingo with their own financing, park officials have saved enough from entrance fees and other revenue streams to offer $5 million against the construction of a modest number of cottages and "eco-tent" structures. If the concessionaire wishes to go beyond the lodging units required in the park's prospectus, so be it, but at least the $5 million offer would help bootstrap a lodging base for visitors wanting to spend more than a day at Flamingo on Florida Bay.

"I think this is still pretty cutting edge, from what the rest of the parks have done," Justin Unger, Everglades' deputy superintendent, said last week during an interview. “What prompted this approach was the fact that when we put out the last bid, we did not have any responsive bids.”

Not since 2005, when hurricanes Katrina and Wilma particularly battered the Flamingo area and inflicted great damage to the motel and cottages there, has there been a place to stay beyond the campground. The lodgings never reopened after the storms, and were razed in 2009. 

While park officials came up with a plan to replace the lodgings, that 2010 proposal with its $78 million price tag was deemed too expensive by Park Service Director Jon Jarvis, especially in light of the park's history with storms and the short occupancy season (summer is too buggy for most Everglades visitors).

Since then, the Park Service has been busy trying to come up with a solution for lodging at Flamingo. In 2012 the park experimented with "eco-tents" that could be used for nightly stays. The next year, 2013, the Park Service issued a prospectus for lodging at Flamingo that called for construction of 24 cottages and the purchase of 20 relatively large tents and five 5 RVs. The winning bider would be required to pay for installation of the infrastructure to support it all. But there were no solid bids.

The lack of bids, said Deputy Superintendent Unger, was due in large part to the length of time it would take to pay off the lodging costs. With the park seeking a 20-year concessions pact, "that's cash you can't use for other ventures," he said.

So not only does the offer of $5 million against the park's desired lodging at Flamingo remove some of the financial burden from the winning bidder, but it also benefits the park by significantly reducing, or possibly eliminating, any "leaseholder surrender interest" the Park Service would owe the concessionaire if it did not win a contract renewal at the end of the initial period.

A staggering amount of LSI owed to Xanterra Parks & Resorts for the millions of dollars it had invested over the decades in facilities at Grand Canyon National Park's South Rim led the Park Service to buy down that outstanding $200 million by $100 million -- raised largely by borrowing from 88 other parks -- to make the concessionaires contract more appealing to a greater number of concessionaires. Just the same, in the end Xanterra retained the contract.

"What we found was that the viability of the contract was much higher because they get their money out quicker," said Deputy Superintendent Unger in explaining the attractiveness of the park's offer.

Additionally, while the park with previous bids had been seeking a franchise fee of 12 percent of revenues from the winning concessionaire, the current scenario allowed Everglades to reduce that to 1 percent of gross revenue for the first two years of the contract and 9 percent of the annual gross revenues for the remaining term of the contract. Bidders could, of course, offer a higher franchise fee in an effort to win the pact.

“Not only is it better, the initial rate of return for the concessionare, but they also get a bigger chunk of their cash back sooner," he said. "We know that we have interest, that there have been people interested in the concept. Whether that interest will translate into actual offers, we hope this is a step in the right direction.”

A check by the Traveler with some concessionaires found that Forever Resorts, which operates lodgings and restaurants in Badlands, Big Bend, Isle Royale, Grand Teton, the North Rim of Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, Lake Mead, and Mammoth Cave, was not "considering any business expansion into Florida at this time," while officials at Xanterra and Delaware North Cos., were reviewing the park's prospectus. Aramark officials did not immediately respond to the Traveler. 

Xanterra runs lodges in Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, Crater Lake, Death Valley, Glacier, and Zion. Delaware North's parks portfolio includes Shenandoah, Peaks of Otter Lodge along the Blue Ridge Parkway, and hotel properties in West Yellowstone just outside Yellowstone, and in Whitefish, Montana, not too far from Glacier.

The contract for Flamingo calls, at a minimum, for:

*  4 Studio Guest Cottages (approx. 300 square feet each)

*  12 One-Bedroom Guest Cottages (approx. 450 square feet each)

*  8 Two-Bedroom Guest Cottages (approx. 600 square feet each)

*  Cottage Area Utility Infrastructure

*  Cottage Area Site work (landscaping, roads, and trails)

*  20 Eco-Tent Platforms (frames and coverings will also be provided by Concessioner, but are considered personal property)

*  Eco-Tent Area Utility Infrastructure (electrical connections)

*  Eco-Tent Area Site work (landscaping and trails)

* An elevated concrete modular construction (not to exceed 4,000 square feet) family casual dining restaurant in the cottage area that will include limited retail space and lodging/campground check-in.

However, Deputy Superintendent Unger said, the winning bidder could build up to 40 cottages and 40 eco-tents if they desired.

The Park Service projects that during 2019 the Flamingo operations, which would include boat tours, rentals, fuel sales, and restaurant revenues, would generate between $4.4 million-$6 million.

The Flamingo proposal also calls for the Park Service to restore and rehabilitate the building that once housed a restaurant and visitor center. Covering about 6,000 square feet, this facility wold be turned into an expanded visitor center, which, officials believe, would help hold visitors in the area.

Standing about 6 feet above sea level, the Flamingo area could be impacted by more severe storms and sea level rise predicted by climate change. The Park Service took those factors into consideration in crafting the prospectus. For instance, most of the eco-tents would have to be dismantled and stored from May through October (historically low visitor months) and reassembled before November, the prospectus reads. The cottages, meanwhile, would have to be built on "10- to 12-foot pilings for protection from potentially damaging storm surges," and be capable of withstanding winds to 146 mph.

Obtaining insurance for the facilities shouldn't be a major issue, said the deputy superintendent. 

“Those numbers are favorable. They may be higher than they would be in the Midwest, but they are comparable to what they would see in the Keys," he said.

Everglades officials are taking bids for the contract until 4 p.m. (EST) on July 13. They hope to have a contract issued in time for construction to start by June 1, 2017, with lodging available no later than September 30, 2018.