This is a printer friendly version of an article from www.heraldtribune.com
To print this article open the file menu and choose Print.

Investor buys Siesta Key Beach Club for $4M

To contact Kevin McQuaid, call 361-4876, fax 361-4880 or send an e-mail to kevin.mcquaid@heraldtribune.com.

Chris Brown spent his late 20s hanging out at the Beach Club in Siesta Key village, enjoying the vibe of the live music and the heady atmosphere.

The memories were so strong that, when he got the chance earlier this month, he spent about $4 million to buy it.

"It's a very special place," said Brown, 40, an automobile wholesaler in Bradenton. "The Beach Club has two great operators, and it's synonymous with live music, and that will continue.

"We may even push the concept a bit."

Not everything will remain the same, though. Brown is already formulating plans to add a covered observation deck to the 6,050-square-foot club and restaurant at 5151 Ocean Blvd.

The 60-year-old Beach Club was one of two properties Brown picked up on Aug. 4 from former owner Richard Dear. He also bought a 6,000-square-foot commercial plaza across the street that houses the China Dragon restaurant, the Tropical Breeze resort offices and a day spa, for roughly $3 million.

There, Brown is planning to spend about $300,000 to give the plaza a face-lift of sorts. He intends to retain the existing character.

Beyond his own properties, Brown is contemplating contacting surrounding owners to discuss forming a bar and restaurant association to better promote the key and its amenities.

"The idea would be not to take away from the charm of the village, but to enhance it," said Brown, who came to Sarasota from Milwaukee more than a decade ago.

Though the Beach Club is the first building he's acquired that is occupied by a restaurant, Brown is no stranger to Sarasota real estate.

He also owns some commercial space near Marina Jack's downtown; a pair of residential lots in the Arlington Park neighborhood, near Sarasota Memorial Hospital, which he plans to develop; and Siesta Key Storage, on Old Stickney Point Road.

The Beach Club and the plaza were two of five Tropical Breeze properties that Dear put on the market for $37 million in February in an effort to spend more time on his boat.

David Jennings, the SKY Sotheby's broker who represented Dear in the transaction, said with the sales, only two of the five Tropical Breeze elements remain on the market -- a 10-unit complex and an 11-unit complex. They are listed for sale at $4.5 million and $5 million, respectively.

The final Tropical Breeze component, 42 rental units, are being converted to "fractional" condominiums, Jennings said.