February 28, 2024

Massive expansion of Sirata Beach Resort approved, will bring two new hotels to St. Pete Beach

February 28, 2024/ Veronica Brezina

After months of deliberation and testimony from the public and parties involved, the St. Pete Beach commissioners approved the plans for the controversial Sirata Beach Resort expansion.

In a 3-2 vote Tuesday evening, February 27th, commissioners greenlighted the conditional use permit (CUP) for the construction of a 290-key luxury JW Marriott hotel, a limited-service 130-key Hampton Inn, and a massive revamp of the existing 382-key resort at 5300 Gulf Boulevard.

The narrowly passed vote is a continuation of the nearly 11-hour public hearing last week when the newly appointed commissioners made a motion to defer the decision.

April 17, 2023

Sirata Beach Resort plans massive expansion with two new hotels on St. Pete Beach

April 17, 2023/ Brian Zucker

The Sirata Beach Resort’s new ownership group unveiled a massive expansion project that not only includes an extensive renovation to the existing hotel but calls for the construction of two new hotels on its property at 5300 Gulf Boulevard on St. Pete Beach.

Columbia Sussex, a hotel management company based in Crestview Hills, Kentucky, presented the full proposal at a community meeting held Thursday, April 13th, at the St. Pete Beach Community Center. It acquired the 13-acre property from Fort Worth, Texas-based Crescent Real Estate, which also owns the Westshore Grand Hotel in Tampa, in late 2022 for $207 million, which remains the highest hotel sale on record with the Pinellas County clerk’s office.

According to a site plan that passed out at the meeting, the existing Sirata resort will be renovated, and two additional hotels will be built: a 290-key luxury hotel to the north and a 130-key, select-service hotel to the south.