Colony owners seek stake in courts

On Dec. 9, Colony Beach & Tennis Resort unit owner Andy Adams purchased a 5% undivided interest in the Colony tennis courts owned by William Merrill. According to the Sarasota County Clerk of the Circuit Court’s website, Adams paid $350,000 for the 5% interest through a limited-liability company called BreakPointe LLC.

BreakPointe and the Colony Association signed an agreement Dec. 10, giving the association an exclusive option to purchase that 5% undivided interest from Breakpointe within nine months.

“This means that the 5% interest is now controlled by an entity fully aligned with the association,” Yablon said. “The association now has the option to purchase that 5% undivided interest if the unit owners approve that.”

With an undivided interest, there is no majority rule, and the unit owners would have as much rights to the courts as longtime Colony owner Dr. Murray “Murf” Klauber, who owns an 80% undivided interest in the tennis courts.

The association’s acquisition of 5% interest of the tennis courts would clear up zoning issues the town has with the property.

“I will at a later time have more to say about the many reasons why it will benefit the association and the unit owners to approve an acquisition of what will become a 5% undivided interest in the recreational property and how this will advance our global efforts to re-open and revive the Colony under the control of the unit owners,” wrote Colony Association President Jay Yablon in a Dec. 13 e-mail to unit owners. “And
I will strongly recommend support for such a acquisition at the appropriate time.”

The purchase would allow the resort to comply with town codes that state a tourism property must provide recreational amenities.

“Obviously, addressing any type of non-conformity that still exists at the resort is a good thing,” said town attorney David Persson.

Once the association purchases the interest from Adams’ corporation, it will most likely hold further meetings with town staff to provide it with the 5% undivided interest documentation.

Contact Kurt Schultheis at [email protected]