We began the month with two Marathon Key deals in the Florida Keys and ended the month with one. The Crystal site, which we've tracked for five years, has been sold to an Orlando-based hotel company for debt. Star had a marketing contract on the fractional cottage component of the site. That's gone now. Good for the owners, though, to get off the note and get back their equity.
But, the other Marathon site, Florida Keys Club, continues to move along. Our top-flight team is working very efficiently. The team met with the golf club equity members a month ago to update them on our progress. Our golf course architect, Kipp Schulties, did a terrific job in explaining the course improvements. The front nine is lower than the back nine, so it needs to be raised, which means the front will be closed for a year. The front holes will be realigned to make play more efficient and to accommodate the building of the new clubhouse and the fractional cottages.
When all said and done, the Florida Keys Club will have:
- 18-hole championship course
- 4 Har-Tru tennis courts
- Golf and tennis pro shops with golf club storage, snack bar and lounge
- Deep water marina with direct access to Atlantic Ocean & Gulf of Mexico
- Clubhouse with spa
- 114-room boutique hotel, half configured for sale, with meeting space and full-service restaurant.
- 15 fractional three-bedroom cottages for sale
Our Seahorse Beach Club continues apace. The Beach House #1 is framed to the second story. Plans for the fishing and crabbing pier are complete as are the beach walk-overs. We are hopeful of establishing ventures with a Club and HOA manager, and with our architect for the Beach Club building and operations.
Our non-resident membership program for the Club is speeding up thanks to interest from a number of chemical plants in the area, which employ thousands of engineers and supervisory personnel.
More in April….
