Longboat Hilton eyes expansion

The Longboat Key Hilton Beachfront Resort is considering a redevelopment plan that could nearly double its 102 rooms.

Delray Beach-based Ocean Properties Ltd., which owns the resort, has not submitted an application to the town. However, the company's vice president of operations, Andy Berger, and attorney John Patterson met March 21 with Town Manager David Bullock, Town Attorney David Persson and Town Planner Steve Schield to discuss options for redevelopment.

“When the Hilton was first built in 1972, it was the place to go on Longboat Key,” Patterson says. “But time has passed, and it's in need of redevelopment.”

Patterson, who also represents the Longboat Key Club and Resort, says the redevelopment the Hilton is considering would be “substantial” and it would involve gutting and remodeling the existing structures on the property, which is just under six acres, and a new swimming pool and landscaping.

“The addition of the rooms is important to taking the vision of the resort up to the next level,” says Berger.

Patterson says he does not believe the plan would require changes to the town's zoning code or Comprehensive Plan. He declined to give a timetable for the project and says the company wants to see what is allowed before moving forward.

“It's premature other than to say we want to redevelop,” Patterson says.

Ocean Properties Ltd. owns 37 properties in Florida and more than 100 in the U.S. and Canada. Locally, it also owns the Lido Beach Resort and the Holiday Inn Lido Key.
— Reporting by Robin Hartill, correspondent