Taxes unpaid on 244 former Colony parcels under Unicorp ownership

Nearly 250 parcels purchased by Unicorp Acquisitions II LLC from unit owners of the former Colony Beach & Tennis Resort showed up this week as part of a list of properties on which 2021 taxes will be delinquent by the end of the month.

The 244 properties all listed their owner as Unicorp and their address as 1620 Gulf of Mexico Drive, the 13-acre site of the under-construction Residences at St. Regis Resort Longboat Key.

A majority of the tax levies range from around $1,300 to $3,300, though one parcel lists a tax responsibility of $50,215. According to the Sarasota County Property Appraiser’s Office, the 2021 taxable value, as determined on Jan. 1, for the 244 parcels was $36.3 million. The total amount of taxes owed on the parcels is $551,827.32.

The Tax Collector’s notice of delinquency includes an admonishment that payment must be made by the end of business on May 31, after which auctions for the tax certificates will immediately begin.

"This situation was brought to our attention earlier this week, and we are working hard to resolve this issue expeditiously," said Unicorp Development Manager Zack Justice. "We have every intention of paying all taxes owed and thank Sarasota County for working with us to get current."

Property records with the Sarasota County Property Appraiser’s Office show the 244 former Colony properties have been swept away for the 2022 tax year, which began Jan. 1. The land is now broken into five parcels by future residential or resort uses, each under the ownership of SR LBK LLC, a Florida limited liability corporation that lists Unicorp Acquisitions LLC as its manager.

Together, those five parcels' taxable value was set at about $5.2 million according to the Tax Appraiser records, before construction on the land began in earnest. Builders of the St. Regis project this month received permits for vertical construction, advancing from previous foundation work. 

That taxable value on the Gulf of Mexico Drive land could reach $60 million by the end of the year as construction progresses, staffers from the Property Appraiser's office told Longboat Key town commissioners in a budget workshop earlier this month. 

Brian Loughrey, the chief deputy tax appraiser with Sarasota County, said the current valuations of the parcels that make up the St. Regis property have no bearing on the past year's valuations. In October, the 2021 tax roll for that year was certified for collection, ending his office's involvement for the year, he said.

Rana Moye, a deputy tax collector with Sarasota, said that because the former Colony condominium association was disbanded after the 2021 tax year started, the properties remained officially on that year's tax rolls. She said her office was obligated by state statue to list the properties as delinquent for non-payment. 

"As far as our responsibility goes, if there is a correction, that would not be under our purview," she said, adding changes in property and its valuation are the responsibility of the Sarasota County Property Appraiser's office. "The bills, as they are, are still owed."

She also said the list that was published this week was the third of three times the list had been published.

The 237 former residential units and seven accessory units came fully under the control of Unicorp in early 2021 following the judicial termination of the Colony’s condominium association. The litigation to judicially terminate the association was prompted by the company's inability to secure the action through a vote of the condominium board. Former unit owner Andy Adams controlled enough units to block the necessary vote margin for a voluntary termination.

That stalemate broke in spring 2020 when Whittall and Adams agreed to a multimillion-dollar agreement to buy his 75 units. The deal headed off the need for a civil trial that would have determined how the remaining units would have been sold. Public records of the transfer of Adams’ units show a total price of more than $15 million, broken into three segments. Those sales were finalized in September 2020 and sales of St. Regis units began.

Although Unicorp purchased some former Colony units through the years from individual buyers, the termination agreement set prices for the remainder of the units on a consistent scale, paving the way for the company to move ahead with plans to redevelop the land into a condominium and resort hotel complex with 166 rooms and 78 residential units, along with restaurants, meeting and banquet facilities and other amenities under the St. Regis banner. 

Ground was broken in fall 2021, and construction is expected to wrap in spring 2024.