Colony: Restore or rebuild?

‘The island was born at The Colony and the island can be reborn at The Colony. There is an absolute intent to keep it a distinctive and one-of-a-kind resort. That is my sense of what owners would prefer.’

STEVE REID
Editor & Publisher
sreid@lbknews.com

What is next at The Colony Beach & Tennis Resort? How long until a restoration or redevelopment can occur? Will the resort be torn down and turned into a name-brand resort or renovated in the spirit of the historical Colony? What is the cost?

These are questions facing not only unit owners, the note holders and the Klauber family, but in many ways the entire Longboat Key community. In fact, many regard the 18-acre property as the most precious beachfront acreage on Longboat Key.

For long-time Colony visitor and now unit owner Gregory Rusovich, he wants to see the association move rapidly to negotiate with a developer and tackle the business of reconstruction.

“We have to speed it up. Colony Association President Jay Yablon’s letter says to wait until spring. Why wait until spring? There are several viable offers,” said Rusovich.

Rusovich suggested that the owners should take the current window of opportunity and be open to negotiations. He does have a caveat:

“My family has spent a lot of time at Longboat and The Colony. The Colony has always offered such a tremendous quality of life. My alarming concern is some developer will come in and put in some kind of condo development. I am fighting to make sure that nice, cozy lifestyle stays.”

Yablon reacts
Yablon spoke of what his sense of the collective disposition of the owners is going forward and clarified his take on many of the swirling issues. First he addressed the tasks facing the owners.

“We barely turned over the property and just got security in place,” said Yablon. “We want to be cautious; we don’t want the bum rush. We are going to be very deliberate and set up a process, and we are looking for independent people who can make sure we do it the right way. We do not want to move too fast and don’t want to move too slowly.”

Still, Rusovich said that waiting things out until spring makes no sense.

“Then the units get run down and more and more dilapidation occurs, and it just gets more costly,” he said.

Rusovich suggests vetting the current developers interested in the property and attempting to make some decisions at the next association meeting in December.

Yablon said the “big wild card is what is going to be Murf Klauber’s attitude.”

Desire to restore
“I really see this in many ways,” said Yablon. “We are facing an historic restoration project with much of the feel The Colony had previously. Some things will have to be changed around. Nobody will dispute that Klauber created a fabulous thing, and he is brilliant and created a first-rate resort. If he sees us attempt to recreate much of what he did in the resort, he might help the process. Dr. Klauber has a choice: if he wants to only have a history or wants to have a legacy. If he wants to have a legacy, no better group than the owners who have a feel for an authentic Colony.”

One of the issues is the fact that the association of unit owners collectively owns 15 of the Colony’s 18 acres. The other three are controlled by the note-holders, Randy Langley and David Siegal. Yablon hopes a fair negotiation can be made for all parties.

“If we have 18 acres we can call developers a lot easier. It’s harder to do something with a property with a hole in it,” said Yablon.

Yablon added that Langley and Siegal may be entitled to a premium if they are in a blocking position, but the association does not want to be held hostage either.

One issue Rusovich and Yablon agree on is a desire to restore the singular Colony experience and ambiance.

“We need to press the Longboat community for all of us that the Colony regain its former glory and style. I will do anything it takes to help make that happen.”

Rusovich said the only reason he bought at the Water Club is because of The Colony. After running as CEO a family shipping and logistics company for 15 years, he sold in 2005 to an $8 billion Kuwait company named Agility. He then ran Agility for eight years. All along, he came to Longboat Key. In fact he has come to The Colony since he was 10 years old and with his wife for the past 24 years. He just celebrated his 50th birthday at The Colony. The couple has two children.

“When we saw the problem at The Colony, we bought to have a seat at the table. I am a big believer in everything being open. The excuse for things not being open from association to owner was ‘we are in litigation.’ Now that we are not in litigation, let’s get a full debate going. In my six months of ownership, I have seen a low level of communication between board and owners.”

Restore or rebuild?
Rusovich did make it clear that he and his family “do not want to pare down the uniqueness and beauty of Colony.”

The most important question to Yablon is if the resort can in fact be restored and invigorated or if the units are too far dilapidated. To that end the association has hired a structural engineer to assess that issue next week.

“That is the single most factual question to determine—if they can be renovated and at what cost. If it turns out that yes it can be restored and it is reasonable, I would prefer that we could restore the buildings and give them a 40-year life and maintain the environment they are used to. If it turns into an historic restoration, we have the task of forming a new governing compact.”

Yablon says he hopes that Klauber assists in the effort if he sees that the intent is to restore and revitalize The Colony as an independent landmark resort.

“The island was born at the Colony and the island can be reborn at the Colony. There is an absolute intent to keep it a distinctive and one-of-a-kind resort. That is my sense of what owners would prefer,” said Yablon.

And while that is Yablon’s personal preference, he said his sense is that it is also the consensus of the majority of owners.

“I look at what can I get broadest agreement on. Any other option besides an historic preservation will be more difficult to gain consensus. What we have in front of us is the political task of forging a consensus.”