Hudson Holdings, a co-owner of the Gulfstream Hotel, made a bid to create the Lake Worth Convention Center
and Beach Club. Many residents object to the plans.
Rendering provided
By Jane Smith
One of the owners of the historic Sundy House in Delray Beach wants to do a project at the Lake Worth beach.
Hudson Holdings, a co-owner of Lake Worth’s historic Gulfstream Hotel with vitamin kingpin and developer Carl DeSantis, made a bid last fall to create the Lake Worth Convention Center and Beach Club.
The original proposal included a two-story, 40,000-square-foot building with 20,000 square feet of conference space, a new main pool that would be open to the public in the mornings and limited to club members later in the day, and a three-story parking garage on the lower lot with 239 parking spaces.
A city committee requested four times that Hudson Holdings scale back its proposal. For the fourth revision, the company reduced its design by 14,000 square feet, said William Waters, community sustainability director for Lake Worth, at the April 28 committee meeting. It was the first time the plans were discussed publicly.
Steven Michael, a Hudson Holdings principal, could not be reached for comment.
The company also faces competition from a Michigan restaurant operator for the vacant space on the second floor to run the Oceanside Bar & Grill. A third bidder likely dropped out in January after the Wave House declined to provide more information.
Hudson Holdings will have to wait for the City Commission to decide.
At its May 19 workshop, the commission allowed 28 residents to speak about the beach and the plans. Most were against further development, evidenced by the red signs popping up around the city. The signs read: “Hands off our beach.”
But the commission did not vote on its committee’s recommendations. At its June 2 meeting, the commission asked the city manager to set a meeting where the three companies could make their pitches.
Hudson Holdings’ partner in the Gulfstream Hotel said it was interested only in the second-floor space of the existing building to hold weddings for hotel guests, said Jeff Perlman, executive vice president of CDS International Holdings in Boca Raton.
Before Hudson Holdings can do anything more with the city, the company must clear two code and licensing problems. One on the Gulfstream Hotel is set for a June 25 hearing to determine fines for general neglect of the hotel site.
For one of the motels it bought last year in the city’s south end, a Hudson affiliate was fined $330.69 Feb. 4 for not having a city business license and certificate of occupancy.
“If the code issues are not solved, we can’t issue a business license for anywhere else in the city,” Waters said.
In Boynton Beach, the company was selected last year to do a project in the city’s Heart of Boynton area. Michael appeared before a city board in April to explain his company’s decision not to go forward with the project. He was rebuked by the board members for stringing them along for months.
In Delray Beach, his company is still involved with the Historic Sundy Village project, his two partners said. Bill Morris joined his original partner, Rick Marshall, in March.
Morris, who no longer is associated with the nearby Atlantic Crossing project, said plans should be submitted in July. The plans include: 110,000 square feet of retail, 135 hotel rooms and 450 underground parking spaces.
“The process is lengthy because of the historic buildings involved,” Morris said.
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