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SHARON L. BONDThe Treasure Island inn will close in mid June. It's not the first beach hotel to fall.
TREASURE ISLAND - Another beach hotel will fall to make way for a condominium project.
This time it is the Ramada Inn at 12000 Gulf Blvd., which will close in mid June.
"It was one of the first Ramada Inns east of the Mississippi," said Michael A. Conley, general manager of the 121-room hotel. He has been there two years.
Sunset Vistas Condo/Hotel on the gulf, which will replace the Ramada Inn, is a 160-unit hotel/condominium project that allows owners to stay in their units part of the time but also rent them.
"It will enable people to own a piece of the gulf," said local real estate agent and developer Gail Byrne, who is teaming with local businessman Bill Edwards to build the project.
Byrne said the city of Treasure Island mandated that units must be rented out at least six times a year.
Prices for the 890-square-foot units range from $375,900 to $650,000, Byrne said. Construction is scheduled to begin in August.
Byrne said all of the units will be identical, with two bedrooms and two bathrooms. They will be completely furnished, down to the toaster and coffee maker.
The view of the gulf will determine the differences in unit prices in the horseshoe-shaped building. Sunset Vistas will have five floors of residences above a garage.
Several longtime beach hotels are being torn down and replaced by condominiums. The 1950s-era Surf Motel will disappear to make way for the Surf Beach Resort. The Holiday Inn in Madeira Beach is scheduled to be torn down in June to make way for a condominium project. And now the Ramada Inn.
Byrne would not say how much the development group is offering the hotel owner for the property.
The new complex will have two pools, a spa and a restaurant among other features. Byrne said about half of the units have been sold, mostly to people from "up North." That contrasts with another condo/hotel complex Byrne is planning called the Surf Beach Resort, which will have 30 units. Most of the buyers in that project were local residents, she said.
While the Ramada does not have as long a history in Treasure Island as the Surf Motel, it does have regulars who come each year, said Conley, the general manager.
"We have notified most of them. They are not happy but they understand. We have recommended other places for them to stay."
Conley said the season that just ended had been a very good one for the Ramada Inn, and Memorial Day is usually a busy weekend. The hotel will continue to operate fully until it closes in June. Rates range from $115 per room on the gulf side to $95 on the street side.