Large Resort Closer to Reality in St. Pete Beach

Plans to replace a long condemned, boarded-up Gulf Boulevard hotel, stalled during years of litigation, are inching closer to reality.

Developers of the dilapidated Coral Reef Hotel, 5800 Gulf Blvd., shared preliminary plans for a 12-story replacement resort during a town hall-style meeting Thursday night in Pass-A-Grille, and explained the economic impact of lost tax revenue opportunity while the city was caught up in nearly six years of procedural-based lawsuits from residents.

"This was a dream of ours when we bought the Coral Reef,” Bob Fleeting, president of Coral Reef Partners, LLC, said to about 40 to 60 residents. “I think we’ve come up with something that is nice, something that will benefit the city.”

The latest proposed hotel and resort, called the Coral Reef Garden Inn, contained compromises on many resident concerns brought up during the past six years.

Two of the three towers will be six stories high, much shorter than the allowable 146-foot height in St. Pete Beach’s large resort district, which spans nine-tenths of a mile from the Post Card Inn to the Dolphin Beach Resort. A third tower sandwiched between them will reach 12 stories, comparable in height to the San Seair condo community located 1.2 miles south on Gulf Boulevard, Mike Bonfield, city manager, said.

The proposed hotel, set back further from Gulf Boulevard than a previous proposal, features 220 rooms in three guest towers, a pool, ground-level parking and a 10-foot-wide sidewalk public beach access from Gulf Boulevard.

The proposed entrance to Coral Reef Garden Inn includes a boulevard and handful of retail shops facing the road — "three or four shops that will compliment the hotel," Fleeting said.

Some residents like the idea of the replacement hotel and welcoming more business to the city.

"I am looking forward to a hotel going up." said resident Fran Travison, who lives about a half mile from the boarded-up 50-year-old Coral Reef Hotel. "It's an eyesore."

"We hope it brings money to the beach," another neighbor added.

But not all neighbors of the resort are thrilled.

Jim Anderson, a St. Pete Beach resident who challenged the city on procedural methods concerning development, expressed concerns about ongoing litigation, the impact proposed development may have on the neighboring Coral Reef Beach Resort timeshare buildings, which share the same 5800 Gulf Blvd. address., and the possibility development would destroy dune vegetation and protected nesting areas of Loggerhead sea turtles.

Bob Fleeting’s company plans to submit the preliminary site plans to the city within 30 days. City Manager Mike Bonfield said once the plans are submitted, staff will conduct a review that includes a traffic, water and sewer analysis and evaluation of city and buildings codes.

Background and Litigation Update

Fleeting's company bought The Coral Reef Hotel in November 2004 for $7.3 million, according to Pinellas County property records.

Since then, Fleeting has tried to develop and sell the property several times. According to the Tampa Bay Times, plans for an international resort fell flat in 2006, a contract to build a Marriot resort fell through in 2007, and in 2009, interest from a European group collapsed. Fleeting cites the city's legal battles as part of the reason for the failures, the Times reported.

During the past several years, residents challenged the City of St. Pete Beach over its development regulations and Comprehensive Plan procedures.

“The only thing that has been in question is the process. They’re all procedural challenges,” Bonfield said.

St. Pete Beach resident Jim Anderson’s filed an appeal following Judge Demers ruling in October.

Mike Bonfield says this litigation is ongoing. “The appeal is currently at the appellate level. We’ve filed our response. They filed a response to our response," he said. Bonfield reiterates that the lawsuits have not challenged a specific developer or development site plan.

The last pending lawsuit received a ruling in October 2012. Judge David Demers of the Sixth Circuit Court ruled that the St. Pete Beach City Commission had not operated in secrecy in violation of the Sunshine Law, according to the Tampa Bay Times. In the past eight years, the Times also reports that the city has paid more than $1.5 million dollars for legal fees.