Long-delayed Port Charlotte resort gets December opening date

The Sunseeker Resort Charlotte Harbor is opening Dec. 15.

Allegiant Travel Co. announced the new date in its third quarter earnings report issued Thursday morning.

In the statement, the company’s chairman and new CEO, Maurice J. Gallagher, says that construction crews are wrapping up the final details and that “as we move into the fourth quarter, we are all but done with the completion of Sunseeker Resort.”

“My conviction around the success of the property remains strong, and I am thrilled to begin realizing the benefits (the resort) will provide,” he says.

Gallagher is Allegiant’s founder. He replaced John Redmon as CEO in September.

Dec. 15 is just the latest opening date set for the resort which has been beset by delays since construction began in 2019.

At the time work started, the Sunseeker was expected to open in late 2020, but that's been pushed back over and over again. The causes have ranged from the pandemic, which shut down construction for 17 months starting in 2020; to Hurricane Ian, which caused widespread damage in 2022; to fires on the worksite earlier this year.

The most recent opening set for October was pushed back in August. The company announced the news in a short note to investors but did not give a new opening date until Thursday.

And as delays have mounted, so have expenses. The project was originally budgeted for $510 million. But according to Thursday's earnings statement, the company has spent more than $653 million as of Sept. 30. Third quarter expenditures on the project came in at $17.4 million.

Allegiant has been active in recent months recruiting personnel to staff the resort when it does finally open.

Last month it announced that 800 job offers had been accepted and more than 300 employees had already been brought on board. Those include a new director of food and beverage and an executive chef.

The 785-room resort, when it opens, will have 20 restaurants and bars, two pools, a spa and salon, a 117,000-square-foot “ground level experience,” an adults-only rooftop retreat, 60,000 square feet of meeting space, a harbor walk, and the 18-hole golf course.

In addition to the new opening date, Allegiant reported its third quarter operating revenue was up 0.9% from a year ago to $565.4 million.