Owner seeks tourism zoning for plaza

Whitney Beach Plaza owner Ryan Snyder’s offer of a lease with free rent for three years drew interest from an undisclosed Sarasota grocery store tenant.

But the deal for the 11,000-square-foot anchor space fell through last month. Now, Snyder’s focus has shifted from leasing up the plaza to trying to determine a sustainable future for it.

“I’m sick of talking about it,” said Snyder, who has spent approximately $2 million renovating the plaza. “It’s time to do something.”

Snyder sent Longboat Key Mayor Jack Duncan in an Oct. 7 letter seeking a mail-only referendum to be held as early as this spring. The referendum would ask voters to allow the conversion of the property from commercial to tourism/residential use, with a maximum density not to exceed six units per acre.

The zoning conversion would make the site eligible for additional tourism units in the town’s 250 tourism unit pool.

“Whitney Plaza LLC wishes to redevelop Whitney Beach Plaza with a mix of uses including residential and tourism (a hotel, meeting center and related conversion to tourism and/or residential use),” states the Oct. 7 letter.

Snyder spent more than $10,000 and a good portion of the summer investigating his commercial parcel. At the time, he scrutinized it to determine whether a 100-room boutique hotel would work on the north end — and concluded that it was not feasible.

But Snyder said he’s had enough interest lately from two parties about building a condominium hotel concept for the property that he wants the referendum to obtain proper zoning for such a venture.

Those two interested parties, Snyder said, have expressed an interest for developing 50 to 70 one- and two-bedroom condo units on the property with a 24-hour reception desk and the possibility of a restaurant and meeting space onsite.

“There’s not interest for a pure hotel,” Snyder said. “The interest is for more like one- or two-bedroom hotel condominium units with a kitchen people can rent for a month.”

Those types of hotel condos, such as the Ritz-Carlton Beach Club on Lido Key, also allow developers to make the financing for such a project more feasible.

“There won’t be a lot of condos on this property in the future,” Snyder said.

There are a couple of options that Snyder is looking into for Whitney Beach Plaza.

The most intriguing option for developers, Snyder said, is the condo hotel with a mixture of  regular hotel units and condo rooms for rent supported by a flag hotel with a restaurant and some limited commercial.

Snyder is also willing to consider a regular hotel concept.

Lands End resident and District 5 Commissioner Pat Zunz said she’s glad Snyder is going to go through the referendum process.

“It’s the first step in revitalizing the north end,”  she said.

Zunz has said for months she hopes Snyder will consider talking with parcel owners of the vacant bank, some vacant lots and the shuttered gas station lot to come up with a way to use the properties as a whole.

Snyder said he hopes the referendum will spur interest in the plaza property and neighboring properties as a whole.

“This is the first step of encouraging the combining of parcels,” he said.

Planning, Zoning and Building Director Alaina Ray said town staff will review Snyder’s referendum request before bringing an ordinance before the Town Commission in the form of an ordinance so it can approve language for the ballot question.

The ordinance must go to a commission workshop and two public hearings before adoption — a three-month process.

“Your continued efforts to find a viable solution for the Whitney Plaza area are to be commended, especially considering the challenges involved,” wrote Ray in an email to Snyder.

In the meantime, Snyder said he’s honoring his current tenants’ leases.

“I have a great group of tenants, and I hope they have a strong winter,” Snyder said. “I will continue to lease and hope many of my current tenants can stay involved in any future project for the site.”

Snyder is quick to point out that under current regulations, the most he could ask for is no more than three stories, or approximately 40 feet of height.

“We want to find something that’s harmonious for the area,” Snyder said. “It will be a benefit to the neighborhood.”