History of Marco Beach II: Deltona Ushers in Modern Era of Development

Over the first century of Collier County people have come and gone along Marco Beach like waves upon the shore. Pioneer Era Marco Islanders, whose numbers are quickly dwindling, long for the days when the beach was just that, the beach. Those days ended when the Deltona Corporation started the modern development of the island in the mid-1960s. In fact the 3.5-mile crescent beach didn’t have so much as a single home on its shores as late as 1965. Condominiums, hotels and timesharing resorts—some 25 stories tall—soon became the norm. 

Longtime realtor Marv Needles is a conduit person on Marco Island. The modern development of Marco Island was just getting started when he moved to the island from Ohio, joining Deltona as a 27-year-old in 1969. One of his first assignments was to pick up Frank Mackle, Jr., who was flying onto the island. At the time, the landing strip was just a block off the beach in the area of modern-day Landmark Street. Frank Mackle, Jr., was the leader of the famous Mackle Brothers, the founders of The Deltona Corporation, the developers of Modern Marco Island. Today, Marco Islanders of all ages love the park that bears his name, Frank E. Mackle, Jr. Community Park.

"I met him when I went to pick him up and take him to the hotel,” Marv Needle recalls. “They would fly over from Miami because they had their own executive planes. We had two company station wagons, and I would drive one of them and pick the Mackles up at the airstrip.”

He recalls that Frank Mackle, Jr. always treated him respectfully.

“Every time I saw him after that, he knew me by first name,” Needles said. “Those guys were just that kind of people, and he made it a point to know everybody's name. He must have had a fantastic memory to be able to do that because whenever I saw him a month later, he would remember my name. He treated everybody very well, I'll say that.”

Needles, who went on to found Flagship Realty on the island, has enjoyed a long, successful real estate career. His first job with Deltona was a humble one.

“Tom Ennis was the head of the Deltona sales department on Marco,” Needles said. “He said, ‘We've got a gofer job.' They called it something else, but basically, I was a gofer, which was go for this and go for that. The 4th of July was my first official day in 1969, working with Deltona. And I was part of the festivities, if you will, representing Deltona. I've been on the island for 54 years now."

After two weeks of hiring Marv, Deltona hired Needles’ wife, Pat, as a receptionist.

"I started for $90 a week,” Needles said, "and they were paying Pat $95 a week as a receptionist."

Mark Bahr, who would go on to make a name for himself along Marco Beach in the recreation field, is the son of prominent Deltona Executive Neil Bahr, who was accomplished enough to earn a famous nickname.

"The fourth Mackle brother,” Mark Bahr answered rhetorically. "He was very involved with all those three brothers for sure.”

Bahr recalls visiting Marco Island as a child. He remembers the Mackle brothers very well.

"I do,” Bahr said. “Of course, I grew up in Coral Gables and that's where the Deltona headquarters were. So we would see them often when we lived in Coral Gables. But as a kid, I came over to Marco often. It was about a hundred miles from Miami. And we would come over back in the early days when they had the villas (at the Marco Beach Hotel). The little pitch and putt, nine-hole course there. Then, they started building the hotel. We would fly over on Marco Island Airways. They had their own airways and landed right on the island."

Bahr, 64, remembers an unspoiled Marco Beach during his childhood.

“There was nothing on the beach compared to today,” Bahr said. "I've got some pictures that show my dad when we would stay at the hotel in the lanais. Looking south, there's absolutely nothing on the beach. It was just pure sand and no development down there.”

Bahr also remembers his father’s role at Deltona in the development of the island.

“He spent his whole career committed to the Deltona Corporation,” Bahr said. “With his sales and marketing background, Deltona promoted the island with dealers all over the world. Selling stuff sight unseen and flying people in from all over the world. He literally priced every single lot on Marco, every residential lot and every commercial piece of property on that map. He penciled in the price for their initial release on December 31, 1965. They had that big event here for the initial release. He’s a lot more prominent down there, obviously, than I ever will be.”

When Needles arrived on the island, the beach was mostly bare. His first apartment was a modest one, just off of Marco Beach on Seaview Court. 

"Seabreeze South,” Needles said. “We had a one-bedroom apartment there, but there was no Jolley bridge at the time. Most people were shopping at the 7-Eleven, which is where Kretch's is now.”

There were only two condominiums on the beach when Needles moved to the island.

"Emerald Beach (1967) was finished. The first Sunset House (1969) had just been completed. Under construction was Sunset House North. They were driving pilings at the time. Those first three condos were each seven stories tall. "There was nothing else on the beach other than the original Marco Beach Hotel and Villas,” Needles said. "We could just walk from Seabreeze, right across the way and walk right onto the beach."

No doubt everyone who lives in the Seabreeze condominiums wishes they could still do that. Today, Seabreeze residents have to walk to Residents’ Beach for the closest beach access.

A year after Needles arrived, Sunset House North (1970) was completed. Then, the first tower for the Marco Beach Hotel (now the J.W. Marriott) was built in 1971. The 17-story Admiralty House and the 12-story Tradewinds building were built in 1973. In 1975, the 21-story Gulfview was built. 

"I got it a real estate license in 1970,” Needles said. "You had to be a resident for a year before you could get your license. I started selling with Deltona as a sales agent a little over a year after I got my license. We had 13 sales agents. They were all men. They didn't hire women.”

Things were going great on Marco Beach until the Deltona Corporation became embroiled in a landmark case with the newly formed Environmental Protection Agency that would gut their company and change Deltona’s vision for Marco Island forever.

Next week, read about how Deltona fights to save their vision of the island and the dramatic impact it had on the Mackle Brothers' dream for Marco Beach. Also, Marco Beach begins its development as a world class recreational destination.