Part of the TradeWinds Island Resorts on St. Pete Beach is going condo. But buyers won't be able to live permanently in their units.
The beachfront resort is zoned for transient lodging. So owners will be have to rent their units short-term to tourists as well as use them for their own purposes. For a management fee, the TradeWinds will offer a rental option that's become a common way condos can be rented like hotel rooms in many Florida beach destinations.
TradeWinds has been researching for some time how to make its 794-unit property more of a mixed-use tourist facility.
Last year, management explored converting one wing to time sharing. Instead, the resort recently signed an option to convert ownership of the resort's 113-unit Jacaranda Beach Villas wing to Mariner Marketing Services and Development Co. of Fort Myers. Mariner, which sold more than 1,000 similar condo units at places such as South Seas Plantation on Captiva Island, expects to file condo documents soon. Unit prices will range from just under $200,000 to about $800,000 for a penthouse.
"We've got deposits for about 50 units already," said Tim Bogott, president of TradeWinds.
