Kast Construction buys out parent Kolter

Top managers at Kast Construction, the West Palm Beach-based contractor that has been among the more active builders along the Gulf Coast this economic cycle, are buying out parent and founder The Kolter Group.

Kolter, developer of the One St. Petersburg condo tower and hotel in St. Petersburg, Vue Sarasota Bay condo and Westin hotel, The Mark condo, office and retail complex and the forthcoming Ritz-Carlton Residences all in Sarasota, founded Kast in 2005.

Terms of the late January “orderly transition of ownership” were not disclosed, and company officials could not be reached to comment on the timing of the management buyout or the reasons for it.

“Kast has flourished to become one of the country’s largest and most trusted contractors,” says Kolter CEO Bobby Julien, in a statement. “We look forward to launching several new projects in Florida this year and Kast will be our contractor.”

Interestingly, however, the Delray Beach development firm chose Kast rival Moss to build the 18-story, 73-unit Ritz-Carlton Residences, which is slated for delivery at the end of this year.

In August 2017, during a groundbreaking ceremony for the 157-unit The Mark project in downtown Sarasota, Kast officials touted their relationship with Kolter, noting that they had built 25 separate projects for the developer.

Combined, those developments were valued at $930 million and contained 2,000 residences and 1,600 hotel rooms, the officials say.