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The Ego Clash That Destroyed The Famed Colony
31 Comments · Posted by Scoop Malinowski in Scoop
By Scoop Malinowski
The fate of the Colony Beach & Tennis Resort has been an ongoing debacle down here in the Sarasota/Bradenton/Longboat Key area for close to eight years. The once world renowned vacation spot was the original site of Nick Bollettieri’s first academy where Agassi, Arias and Bassett played. President Bush was staying at The Colony when the 9-11 tragedy happened.
Today The Colony stands in ruins, it hasn’t been in operation since 2012. Rats, termites, weeds and broken down structures have transformed the multi-million dollar beachfront acreage into a fenced off mini ghost town. Now lawsuits, legal battles, and perpetual disagreements have prevented the wasteland from being converted to a new luxury resort.
Two decades ago The Colony was at the peak of its popularity and glory, the no. 1 ranked tennis destination in Tennis Magazine. Murf Klauber ran the show like a king from his office on the top floor of the mid-rise building. He raised his family on the floor below, inside two joined units. Klauber walked the beach, roamed the grounds and watched the tennis, for years he was the Great Dictator.
There were some funky rules. Colony unit buyers could only stay in their unit a month out of the year, Klauber could rent out the unit for the other eleven months. Klauber kept the profits, paid the expenses and taxes and if there was any money left over, the unit owner received a disbursement. Unit owners got thirty days in their unit and no carryover costs. Generations enjoyed the exotic location and beautiful setting of The Colony.
Then one man from Tennessee by the name of Andy challenged Klauber’s system, he wanted to reside at The Colony for more than a month out of the year. Andy bought two units a floor below Klauber’s in the mid-rise. Then Andy asked Klauber if he too could join his two units and expand his right to occupy the units for more than the 30-day agreement. Legend has it, Klauber emphatically rejected the request. And the downfall of The Colony began.
You have to understand. This Andy character was the wrong guy to mess with. Not long after his reasonable request was squashed, Andy joined the Board of Colony Unit Owners, became president, and helped guide the association into bankruptcy. Strategic bankruptcy. Because in bankruptcy, the association of unit owners could be protected from having to pay any assessments to Klauber. This scheme resulted in the downfall of The Colony.
Klauber demanded as assessment of $50,000 per unit owner for maintenance issues and damages from time, weather, etc. The Board of Colony Unit Owners were ready for the fight, they accused Klauber of mismanagement. Then the lawsuits began and not long after The Colony was closed in 2011-2012.
Today, The 17 acres of the Colony are a ghost town but there are around 200 empty, now decrepit units on the acreage. Andy owns 76 units for which he spent close to $8 million for. There is a new developer named Chuck Whittall who has presented plans for a grand, five-star St. Regis Hotel. The Longboat Town Commission finally recently approved Whittall’s plans after years of back and forths. But construction can’t begin until all the current unit ownership is consolidated. So far, Andy has not agreed. Whittall has offered Andy $22 million for his 76 units but the rumor is Andy wants a larger sum, possibly in the $30m region. Turning down $22m for $8m invested is turning down a 300% return on investment.
There are three or four other holdouts besides Andy, who now lives and has for years at the adjacent complex called Aquarius. Klauber still lives on Longboat Key, less than a mile away at The Water Club.
If Whittall can charm or satisfy the four or five holdouts, the new resort could begin to take shape this year. But no one seems to know what Andy’s strategy is.
And whether the fate of The Colony will drag on for a few more weeks, months…or many more years.
Thomas Tung · April 9, 2018 at 3:28 pm
Hmm … if you ask me, Andy’s current strategy seems to be pure greed. He’s certainly wealthy enough to wait until he gets a quote more to his liking — even if it takes the rest of his life to do so. In his earlier dealings with Murf Klauber, Andy seems to have the “if I can’t get it my way, I’ll burn down everyone’s house” way. Plenty of those types in the field I work in.
As for the $22m offer/other holdouts? I predict that Andy will hold out last, and for the largest amount. (I have met far too many people like Andy before).
Scoop Malinowski · April 9, 2018 at 8:53 pm
Thomas, I don’t think it’s greed. I think the original motive was more revenge. And having the power to do it his way. Researching the article, I also read Andy has stock value in his healthcare company worth $177m. These are heavyweights throwing their weight around and I would guess it’s also a clash of egos too. I’ve played doubles with Andy, fair and very good player. Most people down here and in the media covering this story are clueless about his agenda or ultimate aim. One man basically has the whole island trying to figure out what he’s up to. My guess is that if Klauber would have just let him have his two units and reside their, none of this big mess would have happened.
Thomas Tung · April 10, 2018 at 1:16 pm
Seems that Klauber was worried that if Andy set a precedent, others would do the same, and that would ultimately lead to an erosion of what seemed to be his ironclad power over unit policies (at the time) — owners only being able to use their unit(s) for 1 month/year is really strange, though. You mentioned the two egos aspect, and that is essentially it (as far as the demise of the Colony is concerned); but as for its redevelopment, Andy is holding out for the big time — I’m almost 100% convinced about that (far too many such cases like his in my line of work; I have no lack of stories). And you only get the “big time” if you’re the last holdout (in almost all cases).
$30m-plus for an original ~$8m purchase is an extremely nice profit margin (375%) in just 7-8 years. Heck, even $22m on $8m is a 275% profit in the same time period.
Scoop Malinowski · April 10, 2018 at 1:23 pm
Thomas, yes, Klauber did seem threatened by Andy and the alleged emphatic hardly diplomatic FU rejection of the idea to let Andy live one floor below is what I sense triggered this whole messy affair. My take is Andy is a bulldog and absolutely iron will determined to win this fight on his terms. Maybe he even wants to rebuild the old Colony and reinstate all the old unit owners. To turn down a 275-300% profit suggests he has something big up his sleeve.
Thomas Tung · April 10, 2018 at 1:56 pm
Scoop, was Andy also a bulldog on the tennis court — like a Chang/Hewitt/Nadal type?
Scoop malinowski · April 10, 2018 at 2:03 pm
For a guy in his 70s very intense fierce competitor. Very smart aggressive defensive player. We played together and did very well. Playing against always a challenge. Have to earn it.
Dan Markowitz · April 10, 2018 at 8:09 pm
The Koz was getting his head handed to him by Pella when I was watching, 6-3, 3-0. Koz can’t hang with a clay grinder like Pella. Esco is giving the biz to SteveJo. All you have to do to SteveJo is hit a kicker to his backhand and charge the net. He can’t pass you.
Duke Carnoustie · April 11, 2018 at 1:37 am
Quality tennis in Marrakesh. Jiri Vesely lasted 16 minutes before he quit. Dolgopolov pulled off his usual move of tanking against an inferior player in the opening round.
And we wonder why Fed dominates with so many mediocrities on tour. Embarrassing.
Meanwhile in Houston, DY with another career-ending defeat as Kicker kicked his you know what. Match of the day was Fritzie overcoming Smyczek in a Texas thriller.
catherine · April 11, 2018 at 5:47 am
Whatever happened to Marion Bartoli’s ‘comeback’ ?
Scoop malinowski · April 11, 2018 at 7:35 am
Young and Kozlov looked second rate. Johnson stole that win vs Escobedo. Very bad loss for the kid who was in control but Johnson was desperate and found away and got some luck.
Scoop malinowski · April 11, 2018 at 7:36 am
Catherine, might never see that comeback by Bartoli. Maybe just a pipe dream.
catherine · April 11, 2018 at 8:15 am
Scoop – Maybe Bartoli decided after playing in New York earlier this year that a comeback wasn’t really on the cards.
In Lugano Giorgi bt Kr Pliskova SS, which isn’t saying much these days, but Giorgi played pretty well and even approached the net on occasion. Talent is in there somewhere. If I recall, Dan was a fan of Camilla’s at one point.
Scoop Malinowski · April 11, 2018 at 8:41 am
Bartoli’s body has been through too much trauma, can’t imagine her making a comeback worthwhile, did anybody say how she played at the MSG exo? Giorgi plays the most thoughtless tennis, just pure ball bashing. If she ever gets the memo to add a few new ideas or dimensions to her point by point strategy she could go to another level. But one dimensional tennis is doomed unless you do it perfectly and never or rarely miss – just look at Bouchard.
catherine · April 11, 2018 at 9:30 am
Scoop – I agree about Giorgi – she seems to me a player with a lot of talent but without a clue how to use and improve on it. So she’ll probably stay where she is. I think Bartoli lost to Serena, easily, in NY but I can’t actually remember the score.
BTW – I’m using Explorer here, I’m normally on firefox, in an attempt to solve the problems I’m having, and I ought to tell you that my Explorer Reply form had Thomas Tung’s name and email address on it, so something is going wrong. It’s related to the Forum change I would think. Don’t know if anyone else is having problems. Obviously I’ve discarded Thomas’ details.
Hartt · April 11, 2018 at 11:17 am
Giorgi is 26 years old, so it is unlikely she will make any significant changes to her game. I think Scoop said it well, “the most thoughtless tennis, just pure ball bashing.” I was always bewildered by people who thought she was a good player, outside of guys who liked her very brief outfits and thought she was cute.
She hasn’t even had good results. Her career high was No. 30, back in July 2015, and she is currently No. 59. Her best Slam results were 4R at Wimbledon (2012) and the USO (2013).
I am not a fan of Bouchard and agree that she is getting nowhere with her one-dimensional game. But at least she did have that one exceptional season in 2014, making 1 Slam final and 2 SFs, as well as getting to No. 5.
catherine · April 11, 2018 at 11:32 am
calling up comment
catherine · April 11, 2018 at 11:41 am
Hartt – I’m playing catch-as-catch can here. No, I don’t think Giorgi is a particularly good player, but I’ve seen her play far worse and she served ok. Of course it doesn’t take much to beat Pliskova (Kr) these days unfortunately. Giorgi may be one of those players who is impervious to any kind of really effective coaching. Lugano has had terrible weather, lots of rain, but it’s a cold wet spring in Europe.
Chazz · April 11, 2018 at 12:26 pm
Really looking forward to Tiafoe-Johnson and Fritz-Harrison. Could be symbolic victories for the NextGen if they can pull off wins. Rankings-wise, Fritz moves ahead of Johnson with a win and Tiafoe moves one spot behind Harrison with a win. Tiafoe would be knocking on top 50 door and Fritz would be knocking on top 60 door.
Smyczek is a very tough out despite his ranking so that was a huge win for Fritz yesterday.
Johnson won this tournament last year (beat Sock and Bellucci in semi and final), so he will be a tough test for ‘Foe.
Scoop Malinowski · April 11, 2018 at 3:53 pm
I like this Houston tourney a lot, just straight tennis, old stadium court, no music blaring between games, there’s a feel of old America to it, beautiful setting, like Newport and Fenway Park. The seats look really close to the court. The quality of tennis is excellent. Yesterday Gimelstob said during Johnson vs Escobedo that the quality of tennis was very high for a first rounder. Johnson just came off hard court in Davis Cup too. Johnson was playing very aggressive and barely missed anything in the third set. Escobedo was very good all match too, just that net cord went against him up the mini break in the second set TB 1-0 and then the double fault at 5-5 and it was doomsday for Escobedo. Great match.
Dan Markowitz · April 11, 2018 at 8:18 pm
How about that court Koz-Pella were playing on yesterday? I’ve never seen that at an ATP event. Koz had to pull back his serve on one toss because in the side fence he saw kids throwing around a ball. It was like a public park.
Definitely has a Newport-feel to it although Newport has more of an easy grace about it. I’ve never seen a venue like Newport where you walk to the back of the side courts and stand no more than 10 feet behind the baseline watching the action through a mesh netting. And on the sides, there’s actually no border between you as a spectator and the courts, no fence or anything.
The problem with Newport certainly last year is that the draw was very weak. At least, in Houston the top Americans except Sock are playing. That isn’t true anymore unfortunately at Newport.
Chazz · April 11, 2018 at 8:35 pm
Hey Dan, Sock is in the Houston draw.
Duke Carnoustie · April 12, 2018 at 12:41 am
Don’t look now but Tennys Sandgren is making a run. Winnable match vs. Pella next and then Kyrgios or Karlovic. Tennys played some good tennis at times in South America and clay may be where he has an edge on the other U.S. players.
I expect Foe to beat Johnson and Fritz to destroy Harry. The NextGen’s time is now.
For all you Davis Cup fans you will be excited to watch Isner play Laaksonen since they met this year in a DC thriller.
Bartoli may be near losing her mind. If she comes back, I can’t imagine her winning matches.
Dan Markowitz · April 12, 2018 at 3:56 am
Duke,
I would put Pella as the favorite over Tennys. How does Qball lose in two breakers to Pella after winning first set 6-2?
Bjorn Frantangelo should apologize to Bjorn Borg after last night’s performance against Kyrgios. The Aussie started firing aces, but the American French Open winner was hideous with his unforced errors leaking out everywhere.
How about Dr. Ivo? He’s getting into historic territory, 39 and still winning matches on the tour.
Fun to watch Scoop’s fave Nishioka play some dubs last night against Bryans, who dubbed the Japanese team. The Bryans are nearing 40 and #2 in 2018 rankings. But Nishioka who’s 5-7, makes Schwartzman look big, hit some sick shots. One in particular came with the Bryans both at net (Bob actually stays back a lot on the clay and whips his groundies while Mike patrols the net) and Nishi took a short forehand and somehow carved a low ball from the ad side past one of the Bryans’ at the net, inside-out, down the deuce court rally. The guy has great hands, quickness and balance–and also likes to smile a lot.
Doug Day · April 12, 2018 at 6:14 am
Thanks for your concise Colony recap. Not a lot of clubs share prime waterfronts and Colony belongs to 70/80s heyday of tennis.
Scoop Malinowski · April 12, 2018 at 8:33 am
Yes, the young Americans can maintain their revolution against the older Americans today, the trend that began in Delray with Opelka beating Harrison and Sock and Tiafoe winning the title. If Tiafoe and Fritz both win today, the balance of power will have clearly shifted in favor of the youths. Important day in American tennis today.
Scoop Malinowski · April 12, 2018 at 8:36 am
Dan I reckon that’s your first glimpse of Nishioka. He’s been making highlight reel shots like that for over a year now. You gotta see him in singles. Took Nadal to a first set tiebreaker in Acapulco last year and beat Berdych from a 16 15 deficit. Nishioka is a magician and he studies Rios on You Tube and now he has my Rios book which I gave him in Miami.
Scoop Malinowski · April 12, 2018 at 8:38 am
Doug, The Colony was a special place. A sitting president of the US was there (Bush). I played there a few times, really nice unique atmosphere.
Dan Markowitz · April 13, 2018 at 2:56 am
Sounds like the Westhampton Beach and Tennis Club that I taught at for a summer back in 1985. The courts were/are across the street from the beach and the big hotel/club there. I was an assistant pro and I’ll never forget how this older man, maybe he was in his 50’s, but I was young and teaching full-time for the first summer and he told me he wanted me to play him flat-out for a set. I beat him 6-2 I think and afterward he was so upset about how hard I played him and the head pro told me about playing “customer tennis.” Lesson learned.
Scoop Malinowski · April 13, 2018 at 8:40 am
Dan, didn’t Ray Benton call that “company tennis”? I was giving a lesson last year to a Chinese teen I train and she wanted to play points and I was trying hard as I always do, the previous time I was pretty tired from playing earlier in the day so I was trying really hard. And on one point she got me going side to side and I went for one and didn’t go all out for the other, understandably so, it was out of reach and she instantly accused me of “not trying!” But she had the point, and the open court and yes I just gave the point up – I was winning all the other points. That sparked me to go all out for every ball again, to set the good example. But she didn’t like that either because it’s a helpless feeling when every ball comes back and it’s hard to win a single point. Trying to play company tennis while at the same time keeping your respect is a fine line.
Thomas Tung · April 14, 2018 at 11:20 am
Company tennis — pretending not to pad the delicate egos of others when you actually are padding the delicate egos of others.
A lot of “weekend warriors” still entertain this delusion that somehow, “magically”, they can take a set off Federer, Nadal, and the like, all the way down to someone in the bush leagues of pro tennis — probably based on seeing said pro have an off day, or the weekend warrior having a good day on the court.
Scoop Malinowski · April 14, 2018 at 6:59 pm
Thomas, miracles happen in tennis. I just did a Biofile with Thomas Bellucci at Sarasota Open and he said he once bageled Djokovic in Rome. Lacko bageled Nadal on hard courts. Sandgren was a sub journeyman scrub one year ago and now he’s in the final of Houston. I think I can take a set off of Federer if he used a Wilson t2000 and wore flip flops 🙂