Colony Demo in Works
The Colony Beach and Tennis Resort operated continuously as a resort Mecca for more than 40 years. That all ended in 2010 and six years of litigation ensued. Finally, Longboaters will see another era when demolition begins in the coming weeks.
According to Longboat Key Planning and Zoning Director Alaina Ray, a demolition permit has is underway for several Colony buildings including most of the structures that are visible from Gulf of Mexico Drive.
The buildings set to come down include the conference center, housekeeping building, spa, laundry facilities and maintenance buildings, tiki huts as well as the restaurant and Le Tennique.
These buildings are controlled by Chuck Whittall and Unicorp. Whittal has a redevelopment plan for the Colony approved by the Colony Association of Unit Owners Board of Directors and will soon go to the owners for a vote.
The buildings being demolished were found by the Town to pose a substantive hazard and the Town has recently urged the Colony interests to take action. In total, six demo permits for the various buildings were requested and approved last week.
According to Ray, the next step will be for FPL to disconnect electric service to the buildings and Ray said that she was told by the applicant that as soon as the permit is issued the demolition will begin.
The demolition will mark the first visible sign of progress toward redevelopment on the site. All of the action has previously been in the courtrooms where the unit owners have battled with former Colony Chairman Murf Klauber, Colony Lender, Unicorp, as well as other owners and interests.
Seeking approval
Attorneys for the Association of Unit Owners as well as Unicorp have spent the past months ironing out details of Unicorp’s redevelopment proposal which Longboat Key News has been told will go for a final vote in the next two weeks. That vote could decide the future of the 17.3 acre property and if the proposal is approved, will set the stage for Unicorp to redevelop the site into 180 hotel rooms and 180 condominiums with shared amenities.
The proposal offers to pay $130,800 to each unit owner, with an additional $100,000 to owners of the 15 mid-rise units with waterfront views. The owners of the beachfront units will be offered a $200,000 premium over the $130,800.
Whittall hopes that those numbers will add up to bring an affirmative vote to his plan, which will take 75 percent or more of the unit owners to move forward.
The wrinkle or the dealmaker, depending on one’s view, could be Andy Adams who owns about 30 percent of the units at the Colony.
Adams and Whittall have not come to separate terms to bring his vote on board, but Adams stands to be paid about $11 million for his assets under the proposal. It is estimated that Adams has spent about $4 million to $5 million to acquire his 70-plus units at the Colony.
Whittall and Unicorp control the buildings that will be demolished and 2.3 acres of the Colony total through its contract with Colony Lender. Whittall is scheduled to close on its option to purchase Colony Lender’s assets in the coming weeks.
Colony must remain whole
According to Ray, the Colony is treated by the town as a singular resort and although it may be carved up through agreement between different owners, the redevelopment and the 237 grandfathered tourism units are contingent on a unified plan. In other words, the grandfathered units would go away if anything short of redeveloping the entire 17.3 acres is proposed. The underlying zoning is six units per acre. Any residential units that are desired in addition to the grandfathered tourism units would have to be approved by voter referendum.