Development of Marina buildings approved
Published 3:09 pm Friday, April 11, 2025
Selim Kiralp thanks city leaders after the approval of a contract to lease two buildings at the Pleasure Island Marina Tuesday. Kiralp plans to create a restaurant and entertainment services. (Screenshot from meeting)
A rendering of the outside of one of the buildings. (Courtesy)
Renderings of the inside of the restaurant. (Courtesy)
Renderings of the inside of the restaurant. (Courtesy)
A rendering of an outdoors space. (Courtesy)
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The two buildings that once served as home for the Port Arthur Yacht Club now have a new purpose under the guidance of developer Selim Kiralp.
On Tuesday night, the city of Port Arthur and developer Selim Kiralp LLC, doing business as Pleasure Luxe LLC, entered into a commercial lease agreement for the Pleasure Island property.
The two buildings, which are referred to as Building A and Building B, are inside the gated Pleasure Island Marina. The plan is to have buildings used as a restaurant and entertainment services.
Anticipating the community’s excitement, City Attorney Roxann Pais Cotroneo asked for a PowerPoint presentation to be shown that held renderings of an elegant restaurant and outdoors areas.
Kiralp thanked the city and its leaders for the opportunity saying “I am really excited to develop this on the island. We all have been committed, and I think it’s going to be a success.”
Councilwoman Tiffany Hamilton Everfield provided the update to the contract resolution.
“This has been a long road coming, and I’m very grateful to council for allowing us to be able to effectively negotiate a contract that will be able to bring forward and bring these services to the community sooner than later,” Everfield said. “There’s more to come on the Island.”
The Dallas area developer Kiralp approached the city in 2022 with the idea of creating a waterpark on Pleasure Island. The plot of land is between Lakefront Park and Logan Park.
