Goin' Fishin'

Goin' Fishin'

Development by Mark Gordon | Managing Editor

A Sarasota couple is attempting to turn a backwater barrier island into a lap of luxury.

Julie and Ray Norton, a husband-and-wife team of financing professionals, were called in to consult on a Florida barrier island hotel and land deal in 2004. They thought they would give some advice, set up the right lenders with the right lendees and move on.

Two years later, they have morphed into a new role: Developers.

The couple, who moved to Siesta Key from New York City in 2003, are the principle developers behind Cedar Key Village, an ambitious project that, if completed, would transform Cedar Key from a classic Old Florida fishing town surrounded by nature preserves to a luxury vacation and resort destination.

Cedar Key, one of the country's leading producers of farm-raised clams, covers about two square miles in Levy County, about 130 miles north of Tampa and 50 miles west of Gainesville.

The project covers a city block and includes the island's only destination spa, a 45-room boutique hotel, a movie theater, a cafe and a tavern, two rooftop pools and private marinas. The Nortons are also building an "equity-residence" club, which is made up of 24 two-and three-bedroom furnished town homes that will be sold fractionally, by eighths. Prices for an eighth of the two-bedrooms start at $173,000, while the three-bedrooms start at $240,000. All of the town homes will have water views and balconies.

What's more, the plan calls for a fleet of 24 boats to be available to owners and hotel guests. "It's the perfect kind of boat," Norton says, boasting that there will be a variety of sizes and styles that don't need any personal maintenance and care.

The project is still in planning and permitting stages; the timeline calls for construction on some phases to be completed by spring 2008. About 40 contracts for the fractional residences have been signed.

While the Nortons are new to developing hotels and boat slips, they aren't novices when it comes to complicated financial deals with multiple partners. Roy Norton started his career as an investment banker in 1969, working for an investment firm in New York City until 1981, when he founded Norton & Co., a publicly traded investment firm. Over the last 10 years, his focus has been working on financial deals in Latin American countries through his latest firm, Suncoast Community Partners.

Julie Norton co-founded Suncoast with Roy Norton and has been involved in business development. She previously worked in management with New York-based clothing designer and manufacturer Perry Ellis.

The Nortons, who have been commuting between Cedar and Siesta keys, say they know enough about real estate development to start by getting the best outside help, from builders to architects to marketing.

For example, they brought on Bradenton-based historical architect Linda Stevenson, whose past projects include renovations and upgrades of the Venice Train Depot, the Ford and Edison Winter estates in Fort Myers and the Ca d'Zan house on the grounds of John Ringling's Sarasota estate. Stevenson is now one of the principles of the project, as is Frank Howell, whose self-named Sarasota-based construction firm has worked on $60 million worth of hotel renovation and expansion projects over the last ten years.

Other participants in the project include Miami-based architects Jamie Correa and Oscar Machado, who teach at the University of Miami School of Architecture and Destination Club Partners, a Park City, Utah-based firm assisting in the design, marketing and selling of the fractional homes.

The two biggest challenges to the project so far have been a slumping housing and second-home market and a predictable battle against some local residents against the development, such as the plan to renovate eight of the island's existing buildings to make way for the spa, art galleries and restaurants. On the latter concern, though, Roy Norton says the majority of the residents he and his wife have spoken to have been cooperative, if not excited about the possibility of a developer following through with plans on the island.

The isolated and unique spot of the project has aided some of the marketing, Julie Norton says. The Nortons have been interviewed by several travel writers from newspapers and magazines about Cedar Key Village and the New York Times wrote about the project in its Breaking Ground section earlier this month

Some other marketing, Julie Norton says, is of the simpler word-of-mouth variety. The Nortons are using that approach by targeting affluent alumni of University of Florida, as Cedar Key is an hour away from the school. The Nortons joined the school alumni association and have also been pitching a tent with other tailgaters at home games to recruit buyers.