Royal Floridian update - where's the HOA?

The Royal Floridian is about to break ground on a new building adjacent to the existing structure (a hotel conversion). The existing units are affiliated with RCI, and the new building will be affiliated with II. The new building (53 units) is being built as a timeshare, and will have a better designed floorplan and amenities such as washers and dryers in the units, wireless access, etc not available in the existing facility. Current owners can only reserve units in the original building, not the new building. Prices during construction are $25K for a 2BR unit (don't know if this is ocean-view or ocean-front pricing).

The issue is that the developer is not putting in any shared amenities other than an outdoor hot tub (20 person), and a fitness center in the building. Owners in the new building will have full access to the existing pools and amenities in the existing unit. The existing building has ~105 units, with 90 lounge chairs around the pool. The chairs are already at a premium, and space is already tight. The pools/shared area will not accomodate an increased load of 50%. But, according to the developer, "they don't have to provide any amenities, their job is only to construct the building". Since we (the owners) own the units, we can expand the pool or construct a lazy river, etc as we collectively choose.

Sure we can. Of course, the special assessment to do so will be breathtaking, and then there is the matter of existing owners subsidizing the amenities that the developer ought to be providing for the new facility.

If you're the developer, this is a great deal. I'm shocked that the HOA allows this.

Find out whos in charge

You raise good questions and the key is who is on the "old" side Board and why are they accepting this arrangement? It's understandable if its developer yes men and they are only interested in selling. But if it's an independent Board and the common areas belong to the Association as they should then the Association Board can make sure things are built properly sized to handle all the probable utilization from all authorized users. The key is who has control. If its the owners get on them NOW to get the design right. If it developer let them know your concerns but then plan for future problems. From first hand experience I can tell you that a badly thought out cross use agreement between to independent resorts can be a source of friction or worse. When the Developer controls both sides things seem fine but once the Associations have to run and pay for things the problems begin. Do what you can now to make it all workable.

huestous-- what should we do? We usually go in Feb for the race, so I haven't seen the pool area run out of chairs. I've been buzzing about an outside hot tub for awhile (and I miss the restaurant, they say it'll be two years). Anyway, I'm listening. How do they get to use all of our facilities without giving us something of equal value?

timeos2 said:

You raise good questions and the key is who is on the "old" side Board and why are they accepting this arrangement? It's understandable if its developer yes men and they are only interested in selling. But if it's an independent Board and the common areas belong to the Association as they should then the Association Board can make sure things are built properly sized to handle all the probable utilization from all authorized users. The key is who has control. If its the owners get on them NOW to get the design right. If it developer let them know your concerns but then plan for future problems. From first hand experience I can tell you that a badly thought out cross use agreement between to independent resorts can be a source of friction or worse. When the Developer controls both sides things seem fine but once the Associations have to run and pay for things the problems begin. Do what you can now to make it all workable.

Click to expand...

I'm sure, if you read the declarations, you'll find that the developer has the right to add another building, and there's nothing you can do about it. It's extremely common for the declarant to have exclusive rights to add units.