Colony dispute near an end?

The Colony Beach & Tennis Resort, a Longboat Key icon and once one of the top tennis vacation destinations nationwide, has been closed since 2010 — the chief casualty in a bitter and lengthy dispute over maintenance costs.

But with a unanimous vote by the resort's homeowners association board earlier this month, an end to the long-simmering stalemate may be in sight.

The board's 9-0 vote on March 2 paves the way for unit owners of the 237 Colony condominiums to decide whether to accept a development agreement with Orlando-based Unicorp National Developments Inc.

If an agreement is fashioned and voted on by homeowners this summer, as is expected, and it is approved, Unicorp would proceed with plans for 180-room luxury hotel and 180 upscale condominiums.

Plans could be presented to Longboat Key officials by the end of this year for approval, or the issue may go to referendum.

Chuck Whittall, Unicorp's president, says he hopes to land the Four Seasons' flag for his five-star hotel at the Colony. Unicorp maintains a master lease at the 18-acre, beachfront resort that gives the company rights to the resort's swimming, tennis and retail amenities.

If Four Seasons signs on, it would become the exclusive Toronto-based chain's fifth Florida hospitality property. Four Seasons currently operates hotels in Miami, Orlando and Palm Beach, and a 77-room lodging property at the Surf Club, in the Miami-Dade County community of Surfside, is slated to debut later this year, according to the chain's website.

The Colony vote, however, could hinge on just two individuals. Investors Andy Adams and Tom Hunt, of Buffalo, N.Y., have together purchased nearly 100 of the resort's units over the past several years.

“There's been a lot of negotiating, talking, and meeting to establish goodwill,” Whittall says. “Now, I just can't wait to see kids throwing beach balls out there.”