Four finalists chosen to redevelop Colony Beach & Tennis Resort

It’s “final four” time at the Colony Beach & Tennis Resort, and the grand prize is the opportunity to redevelop the historic resort.

Jay Yablon, president of the board of directors of the Colony Beach and Tennis Resort Association, announced Saturday that four proposals remain: those presented by Colony unit owner Andy Adams and his company, AdamsMark LLC; Arendee Colony, represented by Randy Langley and David Siegal; Club Holdings/Quintess, a private club network of luxury accommodations; and the Naples-based Coral Hospitality, a full-service hospitality management-and-investment company.

Plans presented by the Longboat Key-based MW Development & Investment Advisory, represented by Manfred Welfonder, and West Paces Hotel Group, a luxury hotel management company founded by Horst Schultze, were eliminated.

Yablon said that the four finalists presented plans that board members believed could generate the 75% approval of unit owners needed to move forward with plans.

“They had proposals which we believed would gain the highest level of interest with our owners and allow us to reach the 75% threshold,” he said. “In general terms, it had to appeal to those who are willing or able to put their own money into redevelopment; it had to appeal to owners who aren’t willing or able to put their money into redevelopment; and it had to appeal to those who sit in between the spectrums.”

The final four were whittled down from an original pool of 20 developers who had expressed interest in redeveloping the resort. In his statement, Yablon emphasized that several of the remaining four proposals include options to both restore and to completely rebuild the Colony. Board members are in the process of scheduling site visits with finalists and expect to finalize “a single, carefully negotiated proposal” to recommend to unit owners by early September. A complete, in-person presentation for all unit owners will be scheduled several weeks later.

For now, representatives from finalist companies say they’re staying quiet about the plans they presented.

“We’re pretty much staying to ourselves until the process is done,” said Adams, of AdamsMark LLC, who would not discuss past projects with which his company has been involved.

John Abell, senior vice president of Coral Hospitality, declined to discuss specifics about the plans but said he was pleased that his company was among the finalists.

“It’s very exciting to be included in the short list,” Abell said. “We have a great working relationship with all the parties and are excited to be part of the redevelopment of the Colony.”

Abell said that his company’s leaders include many former executives from Marriott Hotel and the Ritz-Carlton.

“It’s our view that the Colony can be a four-diamond resort,” he said.

Siegal, of Arendee Colony, also declined to discuss the plan he and Langley presented. However, he pointed out the similarities between the Colony and Cedars Tennis Resort, which Langley purchased and redeveloped. Both resorts have an ownership system in which individual owners rent their units, along with tennis and swimming facilities, a restaurant and a Longboat Key location.

“It’s remarkably similar in many ways,” Siegal said.

Pete Estler, CEO of the Broomfield, Co.,-based Club Holdings LLC/Quintess said that he was “very excited” that his company is still in the running to develop the Colony. He said that his company manages elite properties, such as the Cielos Palmillas in Los Cabos, Mexico, which has approximately 650 clients.

“Those 650 clients, you can think of as unit owners, kind of like at the Colony,” he said.

Yablon said that the decision to release the names of finalists wasn’t impacted by the recent reversal of key bankruptcy rulings, a decision that could allow former Colony chairman and CEO Dr. Murray “Murf” Klauber to recoup damages from the Colony Association.

“This is something we’ve been working toward for a long time,” he said. “We settled on a top four within the past two or three weeks, and we felt that now was the right time to announce it.”

Click here to view more information about the four finalists.