Hilton looks to expand property

The Longboat Key Hilton Beachfront Resort is considering a redevelopment plan that could nearly double its 102 rooms.

The Delray Beach-based Ocean Properties Ltd., which owns the Longboat Key Hilton, has not submitted an application to the town. However, the company’s vice president of operations, Andy Berger, and attorney John Patterson met March 21 with Town Manager David Bullock, Town Attorney David Persson and Town Planner Steve Schield to discuss options for redeveloping the property.

“When the Hilton was first built in 1972, it was the place to go on Longboat Key,” Patterson said. “But time has passed, and it’s in need of redevelopment.”

Patterson, who also represents the Longboat Key Club and Resort, said that the redevelopment the Hilton is considering would be “substantial” and that it would involve gutting and remodeling the existing structures on the property, which is just under six acres, and a new swimming pool and landscaping. Although the Hilton has preliminary drawings, renderings have not been submitted to the town.

“The addition of the rooms is important to taking the vision of the resort up to the next level,” Berger said.
If the resort files an application, it will seek additional units from a pool of 250 tourism units available Key-wide created in 2008 via a referenda vote. The resort submitted an application to the Planning & Zoning Department for 85 additional units in August 2009, which was the deadline the town set after voters approved the additional units. The deadline was created by the town at the time in the event that the town received multiple applications at once and needed additional time to review them before dispensing the units. However, the Hilton was the only property to submit an application, which was never completed.

“The economy is back, interest rates are favorable, and the general demand is up,” Patterson said as to why his client is proceeding now.

“The health of the hospitality industry is better than it was in 2010,” Berger said.

Patterson said that he does not believe the plan would require changes to the town’s zoning code or Comprehensive Plan. He declined to give a timetable for moving forward and said that the company wants to see what is allowed before moving forward.

“It’s premature other than to say we want to redevelop,” Patterson said.

Ocean Properties Ltd. owns 37 properties in Florida and more than 100 in the United States and Canada. Locally, in addition to the Longboat Key Hilton, it owns the Lido Beach Resort and the Holiday Inn Lido Key.

Vice Mayor David Brenner, who also attended Wednesday’s conference, alluded to a possible Hilton redevelopment the night before when he won re-election to the District 3 seat, citing it as an example of change that is coming to Longboat Key. Brenner said that he has known Berger for approximately five years, when Brenner served on the Planning & Zoning Board. At the time, voters had not yet approved the tourism-unit referenda, but Hilton representatives had expressed a desire to move forward if voters approved the pool.