St. Regis on track to receive permanent certificate of occupancy, eyes tennis courts

It’s been almost two years since the St. Regis Longboat Key Resort received its temporary certificate of occupancy.

But as soon as this month, the luxury development could receive its permanent certificate, and it could pave the way for new additions to the resort-condominium property. Unicorp President and St. Regis Longboat Key Owner Chuck Whittall said the delay was partly due to a difference between federal and local requirements. The “dry floodproofing” sealant the resort installed was not completed to a high enough elevation initially.

“The town’s requirement is 14 feet above sea level where FEMA’s requirement is 12. When we permitted the project, we permitted it per FEMA requirement.” Whittall said. “When we finished the project the town said, ‘Oh our town requirement is higher than FEMA, we need you to adjust your floodproofing,’ which is water sealing. So we went around the entire property and raised the level up 2 more feet to meet the 14-foot requirement, which is finished.”

Longboat Key Planning and Zoning Director Allen Parsons said Whittall’s team is close to receiving its permanent certificate. 

“It has been completed and then what’s needed now at this point are certifications from the design professional that’s involved in that,” Parsons said. “The application has been completed, but the documentation that’s associated with that is now kind of getting finalized.”

Whittall said his architect will prepare a letter to the town with clarifications on flood-proofing measurements. 

“We had a conference call (March 31) with the town, and we believe we’re there,” he said. “By early next week we’re going to submit revised documentation to them.”

Photo by S.T. Cardinal

Parsons said that while it is unique for properties in the town of Longboat Key to operate under a temporary certificate of occupancy for an extended amount of time — for St. Regis it’s been 22 months — it’s not unique for projects as large and complex as the St. Regis. It also doesn’t signify that the building was not safe or habitable, but was described more as waiting on finishing touches.

Now that those finishing touches are wrapping up, Whittall is looking ahead.

“We feel good. We’ve got a lot of projects going on, and once we complete a project it essentially becomes an operating asset, you move on and do the next one,” Whittall said. “We haven’t really been able to close out of this one.”

He’s also thinking about future plans for the St. Regis. 

“We have a couple other projects on the property we’re going to do. We’re going to enhance the adult pool. We’re going to take Mangrove Island and we’re going to do a collab with a retail brand,” Whittall said. “We’re going to add some tennis courts to the property. We’re doing that, but aside from that I have a dozen other projects going on in the state.”

Tennis courts on St. Regis are notable due to the history of the land St. Regis sits on. The St. Regis sits where the historic Colony Beach and Tennis Resort once stood.

“We think everybody will be excited about them,” Whittall said. “I think we’re going to add three tennis courts and three pickleball courts. We’re going to put it up toward the front of the property.”

Parsons said Unicorp inquired with the town about some of its future plans, adding that changes like tennis courts would need Town Commission approval as it would require an amendment to the Planned Unit Development agreement.

“Several months back they did inquire about adding pickleball courts and then also potentially adding additional square footage adjacent to some of the restaurants,” Parsons said. “It was an inquiry about that, and nothing has been submitted to the town to review.”