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Posts Tagged ‘Sarasota’

War is over at Colony Resort

Ownership and control of the Colony is finally in the hands of Unicorp President Chuck Whittall.
Whittall closed last Thursday on the 75 units of the former Colony Beach & Tennis Resort that were owned by Andy Adams.
The sale marks the end of a more than five-year-long struggle by Whittall to consolidate ownership of the 237-unit former resort.
Now that he bought Adams’ units for an undisclosed amount, Whittall can legally market and sell condominiums that will form the financial basis for a future hotel and resort that was approved by the Town of Longboat Key on the 17.2-acre site.
Whittall told Longboat Key News that he paid Adams a significant down payment in cash with the balance due via a mortgage, over the next 12 months.
Unicorp plans to start selling units the day after Thanksgiving this Fall if the Coronavirus pandemic is fully resolved.
Whittall needs both the housing market to be strong and for the hotel and vacation market to have also fully recovered and waiting precludes having to discount the price of units.
Whittall is optimistic, “Even during the pandemic, northerners are seeing that Florida is a great place to be, and we may not even see a depression in the housing market. We are looking at months, not years anymore, for this project to begin.”
The acquisition of the Colony has happened in stages. Whittall and Unicorp own 115 units outright. He now has bought Adams’ 75 units that had essentially blocked him from moving forward. Whittall has the remaining 122 units under contract with a specific performance clause. He plans to close on the remaining 122 units when he receives bank financing after the presales are accomplished.
Last month, the deal with Adams had not been executed because Whittall said the Coronavirus pandemic had interfered with business. After the month of delay, and with a 10-hour mediation, Adams and Whittall finally closed last week.
“Andy and I have always remained gentlemen with each other, even when we could not reach agreement. Andy wanted one thing, and we wanted another—we met in the middle of the road,” said Whittall about the final negotiation.
Whittall says that Unicorp in total will have spent between $75 million to $80 million to purchase all of the units and land at the Colony and settle the litigation.
“We are not getting a deal on the land acquisition, we will make our money in the development of the property,” said Whittall.
Whittall is approved for and plans to build 69 luxury condominiums, and a 166-room St. Regis Hotel Resort. He said the project will take about three years to complete.

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