Proposed ballroom at Longboat former Colony site sparks debate

What’s in a ballroom?

That’s the question some Longboat Key residents have asked about the 10,000-square-foot space Unicorp National Developments Inc. has proposed in its application for a St. Regis Hotel at the site of the former Colony Beach & Tennis Resort. 

Some residents, like two-year full-time resident Henry Smith, fear the answer to that question could be an increased “human load” on the island that could upset the balance between residents and the environment. 

“I have zero opposition to replacing the current units with better units, I have no opposition to allocating the appropriate number of approved additional units,” Smith said. “But not one single other thing should be done there.”

Others, such as 11-year full-time resident and former Universal Studios Orlando CEO Bob Gault, find the argument against the ballroom unfounded. Gault said ballrooms are the economic “engines” of resorts, offering space for corporate meetings, and necessary to fill rooms, where many event-goers stay. 

In addition to the ballroom, Unicorp is also proposing a series of smaller boardrooms and meeting rooms totaling 7,700 square feet. 

“We need to protect our island and we need to make sure they do it right, but we need to stay out of the design,” Gault said in an interview. “[The developers] are the experts.” 

The only other event space of similar size, capacity and construct in the Sarasota-Bradenton area is the 12,000-square-foot ballroom at the Ritz-Carlton in downtown Sarasota, said Mary Kenealy, event planner at Mary Kenealy Events LLC. 

Statewide, resorts and hotels typically offer ballrooms, meeting spaces and boardrooms of similar size and scope. 

Kenealy, who has organized conventions, weddings and galas in the region for 28 years, said she has hosted events with 900 people in the Ritz-Carlton’s ballroom. A 10,000-square-foot ballroom could accomodate between 600 and 650 people, Kenealy said. 

Most groups that rent the ballroom at the Ritz-Carlton do so in coordination with the hotel, Kenealy said. Corporations often seek lodging in the adjoining structure for convenience and may provide transportation from the airport to the conference center — mitigating the overall traffic impact on the area, Kenealy said. 

“If [a ballroom is] attached to a hotel, which most groups want, [attendees] go to the event then go back to their rooms,” Kenealy said. 

But that doesn’t mean traffic is not an issue. The infrastructure at the entrance to the Ritz-Carlton is partially to blame, Kenealy said. 

Ritz Carlton Drive, which provides access to the hotel, abuts North Tamiami Trail — part of U.S. Highway 41, which provides uninterrupted transit from northern Michigan to southern Florida. Two state highways also intersect Route 41 within a few hundred feet of the entrance to the Ritz-Carlton — Fruitville Road, state Route 780, and Gulf Stream, state Route 789. 

 “It's inevitable that you’re going to be waiting in line,” Kenealy said. 

A ballroom of this size would bring economic benefit to the region, however, allowing for more large corporate events that Kenealy said she must now deny for lack of space to host them. 

“We wouldn’t have to turn down large groups, if you only have one ballroom that can accommodate 700 to 800 people comfortably,” Kenealy said. “It would be a big asset.”