June 1 deadline approaches for Colony payment

Chuck Whittall faces a deadline in two weeks to pay $22 million to Colony Lender LLC or risk losing control of the former resort's recreational facilities. 

The president of Unicorp National Developments, who appeared Monday before the Longboat Key Town Commission, told the Longboat Observer he will meet his obligation.  

“The plans have not changed,” Whittall said. 

In July 2016, Whittall announced his company's $22 million acquisition of Colony Lender LLC’s 2.3 acre recreational property at the former Colony Beach and Tennis Resort. According to a federal court document dated March 16, 2017, the deadline to pay is June 1.

"Colony Lender reports the purchase price remains unpaid by Unicorp, and that unless the price is paid by June 1, 2017, Colony Lender can regain (by foreclosure) or can sell ("voluntarily and independently") the debtors' assets for Colony Lender's benefit,'' the document reads. 

Colony Lender LLC principal David Siegal said he does not foresee a problem. “I have no reason to believe it will not be paid,” he said. 

In that same court document, U.S. District Judge Steven D. Merryday affirmed a bankruptcy judge’s ruling that Colony Lender LLC had not acquired a recreational lease associated with the property. Colony Lender sued unit owners in 2014 seeking more than $5 million in damages and back rent on the lease. Earlier this year, Siegal said he will continue to appeal the case unless unit owners come to a final agreement with Whittall for redevelopment of the property.

On Monday, Whittall, who plans to file a new proposal for the property with the town on June 26, presented the commission with two proposals for the property: one with maximum building heights of 80 feet, the other 65 feet. The developer said he was hoping to have a “collaborative discussion” with the commission to determine “what works well for the entire island.”

“I just don’t want to bring something in where you’re going to vote no, no, no, and I didn’t know why,” Whittall said. “We’re just trying to get your input.''

At the conclusion of a procedural discussion, Mayor Terry Gans told Whittall the commission would not be able to answer his question.

“Whatever the context, I am not sensing a consensus to give consideration along the lines you requested,” Gans said.  "I think that’s about it.”