Fort Myers eyesore sells

The most hideous building in Fort Myers has finally sold.

Every downtown has an eyesore, and the derelict pink Ambassador Hotel has been Fort Myers'. Now, developer Pittman Group closed on the purchase of the empty hotel for $13.5 million, according to Fort Myers broker Tom Woodyard.

The developer plans to transform the building into a retirement community with 340 units called Campo Felice, Italian for “happy fields.” The renovations will last 15 months and will include a restaurant, a convenience store and a fitness center.

The 24-story building was so big that the original developers who opened it in 1986 lost it in foreclosure a few years later. A Thai family has owned it in recent years, but it has been unable to sell it because of a family feud after the patriarch died.

Now under new ownership, downtown boosters can be sure of one thing: The building will get a new paint job.