Opposition to Hyatt Regency redevelopment plan organizing

Developers of Quay Blocks 1 and 9 are being joined by nearby condo residents in appealing a Planning Board adjustment to the City Commission.

By Andrew Warfield
| 2:07 p.m. March 3, 2025

This drawing by Quay 1 and 9 depicts the 1000 Boulevard of the Arts project (in red) enveloping its city-approved One Park West project.

Sarasota
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Opposition to Kolter Urban’s plans to redevelop the Hyatt Regency site into a two-tower, mixed-use project is gaining in numbers as a March 17 hearing before the Sarasota City Commission approaches.

Quay 1 and 9 led a virtual meeting last week of the investment team from Property Markets Group of Miami and MoneyShow of Sarasota; more than 40 people attended to discuss objections to the 1000 Boulevard of the Arts project. Quay 1 and 9 has appealed a Dec. 11 Planning Board approval of an adjustment to relocate an existing driveway into the site, one that also exceeds the maximum width permitted by code by 9 feet.

That access will serve both the condominium and hotel towers.

A rendering by Quay 1 and 9 of the massing of the 1000 Boulevard of the Arts project. The tower to the right is the residential tower and the center is the hotel. The tower to the right is One Park West, which is under construction.

The relocation of the driveway, they claim will require all westbound vehicle traffic to make a U-turn on Boulevard of the Arts to access the 117 luxury condos, 174 hotel rooms, more than 8,130 square feet of commercial and retail space and activities in a 6,610-square-foot ballroom.

Additionally, Quay 1 and 9 object to the administratively approved massing of the building at 622 linear feet along Boulevard of the Arts, the project being built over an existing public easement — a vacated alley jointly owned by the two developers — resulting in a tunnel between Boulevard of the Arts and Quay Block 9.

Not included in the appeal, but likely a factor is the hotel plan surrounds Block 9 along two lot lines, where PMG and MoneyShow have been granted approval to build One Park West.

“This won't appeal the entire project,” Tyler Stall, attorney for Quay 1 and 9, told the meeting attendees. “This will be as it relates to the adjustment they received. We're also objecting to the partial sign-off for their site plan.”

That partial sign-off was granted by the city’s Development Review Committee on Feb. 19.

In a letter dated Feb. 25, Stall requested the city recognize Quay 1 and 9’s adversely affected — or aggrieved — party status regarding Kolter Urban’s application. City Commission must grant status prior to an appeal being heard.

Florida statute defines an aggrieved party as any person or local government that will suffer an adverse effect to a project that exceeds the general interest in community good. Whether negative impact on one party exceeds that of the general public, or benefit, is subject to interpretation.

A rendering by Quay 1 and 9 of the entrance to the covered alleyway from Boulevard of the Arts.

Quay 1 and 9 is an aggrieved party, according to Stall’s letter, because it shares a common boundary, impacting it at a level far over that which will be endured by the public at-large.

The grounds for opposition are:

Traffic congestion and safety concerns over a podium building of 622.5 linear feet along Boulevard of the Arts, the largest span in the city. Traffic on the street already includes 350,000 annual visitors to The Bay Park and three condominium communities — Beau Ceil, 888 and 988, whose only access is off Boulevard of the Arts.
The primary entrance curb cut of 33 feet in width, which exceeds the 24-foot maximum prescribed by code. It also claims Kolter Urban’s traffic study was insufficient. Inconsistencies with the city’s Comprehensive Plan regarding scale and massing, placing undue strain on adjacent properties and public infrastructure.That includes compromising pedestrian accessibility to The Bay park and the multiuse recreational trail through the area. Boulevard of the Arts, Stall argues, is a primary street requiring enhanced pedestrian standards while prohibiting “unnecessarily wide curb cuts that disrupt pedestrian movement and reduce public safety.”
Encroachment on public and private easements a 20-foot-wide easement for a vacated alley and a 12-foot-wide pedestrian access easement. The letter states Quay 1 and 9 owns two-thirds of the alley easement, the encroachment restricting its ability to access and develop its own property.

Although the subject of the appeal is restricted to the Planning Board-approved adjustment, Stall said the City Commission has the latitude to widen its scope to the overall plan.

“There's certainly the possibility that, especially given that the city has the opportunity to send it back to the Planning Board, to require further modifications,” Stall said. “There is the possibility the City Commission can be more concerned about the other issues and require extensive adjustments. They may be able to go into other facets of the entire project.”

Although still awaiting final Development Review Committee sign-off and in the face of the looming appeal, Kolter Urban launched sales at 1000 Boulevard of the Arts on Feb. 25 with a media release. The developer declined to provide comment on the appeal.

author

Andrew Warfield

Andrew Warfield is the Sarasota Observer city reporter. He is a four-decade veteran of print media. A Florida native, he has spent most of his career in the Carolinas as a writer and editor, nearly a decade as co-founder and editor of a community newspaper in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina.