Find a way to say yes

It’s probably difficult for many Longboaters to take seriously another report about alleged progress in the sad saga of the Colony Beach & Tennis Resort. 

But this time is for real.

Come Tuesday, Dec. 19, Chuck Whittall and his Unicorp National Developments Inc. will ask the Longboat Key Planning and Zoning Board to approve Unicorp’s application to redevelop Longboat Key’s most famous and most infamous 18 acres fronting the Gulf of Mexico.

This won’t be the decisive, definitive step on whether the town is giving Unicorp its blessing to build. That is the Town Commission’s purview. But however the Planning and Zoning Board votes Tuesday, its decision will serve as a strong barometer on whether this 10-year tragedy is on the verge of starting redevelopment in 12 to 18 months or destined for years more of legal entanglements and rats scavenging the property.

But if you evaluate the recent Colony timeline — evaluate Unicorp’s proposed plans — and evaluate the alternatives to Unicorp’s plans, you can reach see that the tide, the law and the alternatives are tipping the scale in Unicorp’s favor.

Whittall is all in

When Longboaters heard that an Orlando developer who built the tallest Ferris wheel in Florida was involved with the principals of Colony Lender, suspicions arose. Who is this outsider? Is he for real? And what is he doing with David Siegal and Randy Langley, the two men who purchased the bank note of former Colony owner Murf Klauber? As far as Longboaters knew, Colony Lender was neck deep in the interminable Colony litigation and its principals wanted a boat load of money for Klauber’s assets and property.

As it turned out, Whittall’s involvement in the Colony actually started at the 2013 Master’s Tournament. While walking around Amen Corner, he started chatting with Liz and Morgan Bentley. When Morgan Bentley said he was from Sarasota, Whittall remarked that he often vacationed with his Winter Park friends on Longboat Key and that one day he would like to buy property on Longboat.

Bentley, a well-known Sarasota lawyer, told Whittall about the Colony. A few days later, Bentley connected Whittall with Siegal. “…The rest is history,” Bentley says, “going on four years and a lot of litigation history.”

One of Whittall’s traits is to show he can when people say he can’t. When he proposed his Ferris wheel in Orlando near Universal Studios, Universal and the Walt Disney Co. tried to stop him. Whittall won.

To win the right to redevelop the Colony, Whittall paid Colony Lender close to $24 million for three acres and other assets. He paid $8 million more to acquire 32 Colony units and on engineering, architectural, legal and demolition fees. He has a contract with the Colony Beach & Tennis Club Association to pay its unit owners about $170,000 per unit when he redevelops the property. Separately, Whittall has been negotiating to buy 75 units from Andy Adams for between $15 million and $30 million.

On top of all that, Whittall purchased a unit at the new Aria condominium for $4.2 million.

Consider, too, the personal time Whittall spent canvassing the Key in the first quarter of 2017, attempting to persuade Longboat voters to allow him to increase residential density at the Colony. He was naïve in the beginning to Longboaters’ disdain for large-scale developments, but he put in the time trying to sell an out-of-scale, dead-on-arrival proposal.

Ninety percent of those who voted rejected the proposal.

Whittall didn’t give up. Soon to have more than $40 million in the project, he remains all in — deeper than anyone else.

Expect opposition

Whittall learned from the March referendum defeat. He scaled back his designs — down to 166 tourism units and 102 residential units (268 total and buildings that would rise only five stories.

The renderings show what would be a stunning addition to Longboat Key. But paper renderings don’t equate to success. At Tuesday’s Planning and Zoning Board meeting, you can expect opposition to Unicorp’s proposal.

Start with these: a) Whether the town code allows for mixed use — residential and tourism — on the site; b) whether Whittall’s application for 102 condo units is an increase in residential density and therefore would require a voter referendum.

Answers: a) yes and b) no.

The Colony site is zoned T6, which allows for six residential or tourism units per acre — or 105 units total.

Whittall’s approach is to use 102 of those units as residential and three as tourism. By having three tourism units, Whittall would then seek approval to use 163 tourism units from the town’s pool of unused tourism units, which voters approved in 2008. This way, Whittall would avoid the need for a density referendum.

You can expect intense debate over whether this approach is slick maneuvering or sleight-of-hand by crafty land-use lawyers.

But the town code also states (158.071B): “In cases where land proposed for a planned unit development is zoned for both residential and nonresidential uses, a mix of residential and nonresidential land uses may be approved by the town commission through the outline development plan review process …”

Unicorp’s lawyers have submitted plans to conform with the town’s planned unit development process. What’s more, they cite a section in the town code (158.180E) that allows Unicorp to apply for tourism units.

They are ready to defend and knock down anyone’s technical objections. 

Big hurdles still

To be sure, planning board members and town commissioners are obligated to follow the town’s laws. But they also should keep in mind what has occurred over the past 10 years and what will happen if they reject Unicorp’s application. 

Longboaters have witnessed and felt a decade of strife and deterioration on what was one of the Key’s shining jewels. Look at what it has taken to get to this point today — all of the costs and lost opportunities. Who wants to continue that path?

On the other hand, look what is within reach. With Whittall and Unicorp’s $30 million already sunk into the Colony redevelopment, the town has an earnest, committed Longboat Key property owner and developer with a proposal that will turn bad to good, maybe even to great. What town would not want a St. Regis hotel-resort?

Yes, Whittall still faces a big hurdle: In addition to the town’s approval, he needs the vote and units of Adams to proceed. This will happen. Adams knows if the Colony Association wins court approval to dissolve the association so Unicorp can proceed, the price on Adams’ units will fall.

In the alternative, if, say, the town rejects Unicorp’s proposal, what then?

Would Whittall sell his $30 million stake? That would take this process back to the beginning — of finding a buyer for his stake; of the association finding a developer willing to pay what Whittall has offered Colony unit owners; and on and on. Just imagine how much more time that will add to the decaying eyesore of the Colony. 

And while Whittall may have the trait never to give up, at some point, continuing to fight for a five-star resort and condominiums will quit making business sense. At some point, it would be far easier and less costly for Whittall simply to turn the Colony property into another gated, luxury condominium.

That would be the final tragedy. 

Find a way to say yes.