Commission approves Hilton Beachfront Resort project

It’s official.

The Longboat Key Hilton Beachfront Resort will undergo a major facelift and renovation project this summer and reopen in fall 2015.

The Longboat Key Town Commission approved the project at its Monday night regular meeting. The Hilton will also attain 85 of the town’s 250 tourism unit pool as part of the $30 million renovation and expansion project.

The six commissioners in attendance voted to approve the project. Mayor Jim Brown was ill and unable to attend the meeting.

Delray Beach-based Ocean Properties Ltd., owner of the Hilton and the Resort at Longboat Key Club, submitted a site-plan application in September for its long-anticipated project.

Commissioners asked that the project include a deceleration lane for southbound motorists entering the Hilton off Gulf of Mexico Drive and also recommended a crosswalk on Gulf of Mexico Drive.

The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) must approve both recommendations.

The Hilton is the first applicant to take advantage of the townwide 250 tourism-unit pool that’s been waiting for applicants to seek additional units since 2008.

The site-plan application submitted Sept. 4 calls for redeveloping existing Hilton buildings and the 102 rooms that currently sit on the site, while also acquiring 85 of the town’s additional tourism units that would be used for a new tower on the property.

The application states: “The Longboat Key hotel must be completely redeveloped and modernized to attract the affluent, upscale visitors who historically supported the local economy of Longboat Key.”

Coral Gables architect James Wurst, whose firm designed the original hotel, called the existing hotel and future hotel “unique.”

“You won’t see another hotel like this anywhere in the world,” Wurst said. “It’s a beautiful property we want to update for the future.”

The project will begin after season and take 18 months to complete.

Town Manager Dave Bullock and town planning staff worked with Hilton project engineers as needed throughout the summer to help move the process along. The application doesn’t require any departures from town codes.

Earlier this year, the commission approved an ordinance that modifies the outline development process (ODP) that distributes the pool of 250 tourism units. And, in May, Planning and Zoning Board members reviewed code and Comprehensive Plan changes that allowed the Hilton to seek a fifth floor and an additional 15 feet in height as part of its project through the site-plan process.

Also at the meeting, commissioners learned the town missed a Dec. 31 deadline imposed by the Sarasota County Elections Office to provide ballot language for its March election on a referendum question to ask voters to eliminate the town’s Zoning Board of Adjustment (ZBA).

The ZBA has had trouble holding meetings for months because not enough of its members are in town.

The commission will discuss the issue and how to proceed at its Jan. 21 regular workshop.

Contact Kurt Schultheis at [email protected]