April 1st, 2025 at City Hall will go down as a day of infamy or day of hopeful historical affirmation. The question is: will our city commissioners stand with Key West residents and vote to preserve our residential neighborhoods and our quality of life, or will they raise the white flag of surrender to an out of state multi-billion-dollar, wall street corporation?
Park Hotels and Resorts, despite the overwhelming opposition of its immediate neighbors and the community, is seeking to rezone the 3.36 acreage adjacent to its Casa Marina Hotel (referenced as 811/715 Seminole) from Residential/Workforce to Tourist/Commercial.
As the old expression goes, “the devil is in the details”.
A few details for our commissioners to consider:
1) The written assurances by Park’s representatives concerning restrictions of scooter, golf cart rentals, bars and restaurants can be easily overturned “administratively” after only one abbreviated workshop with no further input from the public.
2) The four unspecified dormitory style workforce housing units to be made “available” for city employees will do little to address our ongoing workforce housing crisis and are simply intended to curry favor with the City Commission. All of these units are required by code to be developed as workforce housing anyway.
3) Given the continued abandonment of the existing 14 workforce housing over the last nine years, allowing them to become rat infested eyesores, there exist the possibility that these wall street investors may very well choose, for financial considerations, to abandon these housing promises as well, especially in light of the fact that the only remedy for breach of contract is to take this multi billion dollar Corporation to court. On a practical basis would our city budget even allow for such a lawsuit?
4) As demonstrated by the Bahama Village Lofts workforce housing project nearby we can build more workforce housing but we can’t build more residential neighborhoods and the quality of life they afford, once they are gone they are gone forever including the unique character they bring to our community.
5) This multi-billion dollar corporation has chosen to move forward with the change of zone before submitting a development agreement and development plan – to save money. All components of this project including the development plan, development agreement and the change of zone should be considered at the same time. Segmenting the review of this project will only risk modifications down the road – once the developer has the rights to the zoning. The City Commission should protect the community from the risk of such a “bait and switch.”
6) There is no construction start or finish date. According to agreements as drafted by Park Hotels they also get the ability to maintain all the rights to develop this property indefinitely.
7) The centerpiece of this proposal involves the rezoning to allow for the transfer of transient rental units. However, the draft development agreement doesn’t even establish any standards for the transfer of transient rental units to the site. It doesn’t even state that the applicant agrees to comply with the current code regulating transient rental units.
8) The applicant isn’t even committing to comply with current code requirements. Instead, they propose language stating that they will comply “to the best of their knowledge.” This type of language is unenforceable and the applicant knows it.
9) Once we open the irreversible commercial floodgates to transient rentals as a matter-of-right, they remain forever open, no caps permitted ,eventually allowing for potential development on a mass and scale unanticipated and unimagined.
10) Once this 3.36 prime real estate acreage, with partial ocean view and waterfront access is voted commercial Park Hotels,(NYSE symbol PK), a Real Estate Investment Trust (aka. R.E.I.T.), according to experts will get an estimated $100,000,000 boost to the value of its stock portfolio, we the citizens of Key West on the other hand will get the permanent loss of a priceless family friendly residential neighborhood and another part of what makes Key West vibrant, unique and special.
11) The proposed 3,000 square foot, two story industrial sized laundry possesses a slew of unaddressed concerns from micro-polluntants and airborne toxic polyfibers to waste water issues that have yet to be fully considered. A bad idea to begin with that keeps getting worse with every unanswered question submitted to Parks Hotels.
In conclusion it is perhaps important to note what is missing from the many conditions as presented by Parks Hotels and Resorts. Typically, it is standard and customary for a city to include language in its agreements authorizing it to simply revoke any and all approvals, terminate operation of use, and prohibit any rights to nonconformity in the event of a violation and a failure to cure. There are no such basic safeguard provisions to be found here.
And it needs to be emphasized, overall, that this entire situation sets a terrible precedent for far too many others to easily follow.
On a closing historical note, Henry Flagler (oil man, philanthropist, visionary, railroad magnate and founder of the majestic Casa Marina Hotel) had designated this 3.36 acreage, between Seminole St. and Waddell Ave strictly for employee workforce housing and residential use. We should honor his vision and wishes, keep it as originally zoned and not overdevelop. We have more than enough sprawling, high end hotels in Key West, what we are missing are the vanishing charms of residential neighborhoods.
Park Hotels, a Virginia based Corporation is free to build as currently zoned, they can rebuild the vacant 14 two bedroom employee apartments but they choose for their own financial reasons simply not to do so. They want what they want (e.g. transient rentals and the profits they provide) and they have been relentless and spared no expense over the last three years in pursuing it.
Posterity is watching. Send an email to the City Commissioners and lend your voice and stand with us and our Planning Department on April 1st, 5 pm at City Hall, in saying “NO!” to this out of state corporate greed and save and protect our remaining residential neighborhoods! (https://
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