A major new project offering “the ultimate in luxury boating experience” in Gulf Shores will bring a Margaritaville restaurant to the city whose beaches inspired Margaritaville founder Jimmy Buffett.

The news was revealed at a recent “topping out” ceremony celebrating a milestone in construction that saw the complex’s highest steel framing put into place. Peter Bos, CEO and founder of Legendary Marina and Yacht Club, shared the news.

Renderings show a spacious three-story structure surrounded by sand, with a small pool between it and the water. Features include balconies, at least one outdoor bar and semiprivate cabana-type booths facing the sand and water. It also offers direct access to boats moored at a nearby pier.

The restaurant will fit into an overall project that cover 27 acres along the Intracoastal Waterway, about a mile west of Ala. 59. Major features include two enclosed storage buildings with racks that can handle boats up to 50 feet long; a marina basin with dockage for vessels up to 60 feet long; a clubhouse and pool; an open park with amphitheater; mixed-use commercial space; hotel and condo units; and townhomes and multi-unit village homes.

Bos described it as a future “town center of Gulf Shores including a festive marketplace and entertainment center anchored with a wet and dry marine complex.”

Renderings appear to show two major restaurant facilities on the development’s waterfront.

The Margaritaville Restaurant won’t be the first on the central Gulf Coast, as there are locations in Biloxi, Panama City Beach and Destin, Fla. Others are scattered far and wide, in locations as diverse as Tulsa, Okla.; Times Square in New York City; Nashville and Pigeon Forge, Tenn.; Jamaica; Niagara Falls; and Las Vegas. The format varies somewhat from place to place. Some are freestanding restaurants, as in Destin, while some are within larger resorts, as in Biloxi.

Margaritaville restaurants include an array of menu items inspired by Buffett’s song titles and stories. Examples include Jimmy’s Jammin’ Jambalaya, Volcano Nachos, a couple of varieties of Cheeseburger in Paradise and Landshark Lager Fish & Chips.