Deep Pockets Send Hyatt Skyward

$100 million fractional ownership resort has funding and buyers

At a time when most new condo projects in Sarasota are on ice, and new construction as a whole is hard to come by, there is one notable exception these days out on Siesta Key.

The $100 million Hyatt Siesta Key Beach, a “fractional ownership” resort scheduled to open next year, is moving ahead at full speed, after clearing its remaining permits last month. Cranes and bulldozers are at work at the beachfront location, the site of the former Sea Castle resort. The 44-unit project is set to go vertical within a matter of weeks, with the goal of completing the new building by next summer.

Meanwhile, the project has won over its first actual buyers, with several contracts now signed, sealed and delivered. At its newly decked-out downtown sales office at Fruitville Road and U.S. 41, Hyatt just completed work on a model unit to help give those buyers and future ones a taste of what they will be getting for their money.

So how is the project able to move forward while others circle the bowl?

The answer, as it almost always does, comes down to one thing: money. And lots of it.

While most condominium projects are dependent on presales to finance construction — in many cases 40 percent to 50 percent of units must be sold to secure construction funding — the Hyatt “fractional ownership” project already has all the money it needs to start building, thanks to Hyatt, the developer Triton and the deep pockets of the Carlyle Group. (As a partner, Carlyle is providing a yet-undisclosed portion of the funding, but with more than $58 billion in assets around the world, it is not hurting for cash.)

Read more at http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20080707/REALESTATE/807070435/1661