Hammock Beach Resort Town Hall Meeting Garners 85 Percent Favorable Response

Salamander Resorts and Lubert-Adler presented their plan for a new lodge and golf clubhouse to replace the existing facility. Their strategy of involving residents and club members is paying off.

Palm Coast, FL – April 9m 2014 – Salamander and Lubert-Adler presented their concept proposal for a new 198-room lodge and golf clubhouse to Hammock Beach Resort club members, Ocean Hammock residents and owners at an April 5th town meeting. The concept of involving resident and club stakeholders in discussion of their concept represents a marked departure from the failed blind-siding "take it or leave it" approach orchestrated by Front Door nearly five years ago. The approach appears to have gained support from about 85% of the meeting attendees.

The Hammock Beach Club and Resort have a checkered history in Palm Coast, much of it documented in scores of GoToby.com articles. The new concept, the planning process itself and the management team's experience signal a turnaround. In this case, GoToby..com defers the story telling to the meeting itself,  available here via YouTube. In it, Salamander takes the time to explain the Club's background and its current condition, including an ananysis of their competitive position, citing primarily Amelia Island as well as exposure to other Salamander properties.

It's not a done deal. Flagler County will have a say for sure, but Salamander has not had any discussions with county staff.

Click the start arrow below then click "Watch on YouTube"

Take the time to watch the entire vidio if you can.

5 replies
  1. Phil Pate
    Phil Pate says:

    Same story two years ago, Lubert Adler just has a

    This so called Saturday morning meeting was as one sided as they come. They let multiple family members in one household vote. Not just one vote for each membership. Their is over 1500 members at Hammock.
    They are telling the same story as two years ago. 198 hotel rooms, two buildings and could not explain to the members were the parking was going to be but wanted them to vote.
    The members in the Oceanfront condos that called in had to listen to a two hour plus video before they could vote. How many do you think done that ?
    Salamander does not have any OWNERSHIP at Hammock. It is all about the money Lubert Adler wants to make ,and screw the Oceanfront condo owners that were told ,there would never be no more Oceanfront building in front of you.
    We fought this for over two years before and won at EVERY hearing even when they took it to the Governors office.
    Phil Pate
    President ,Hammock Beach Club
    Hammock Beach Club

  2. Harold pokrop
    Harold pokrop says:

    Town hall meeting

    I attended the meeting and they pushed all the right buttons. The attendance was only a small portion of our total membership and I got the feeling was largely made of those who rent there Condes for profit.
    Are membership is approx 1500 give or take, I think theses of us living full time see this ad a same old same old.
    There were a lot of If’s in thre message and every thing was mabe, but we we are listening and will do our best.
    Time will tell

  3. Cottie Benson
    Cottie Benson says:

    Hammock Beach Club and The Lodge

    People seem to have a short memory. The lodge was never part of Hammock Beach club resort the lodge was a private golf course except for the resturant. Some of the HBC members may have bought a membership to that course what happen to that money.
    When Ginn-Lubert purchase it from Centex they let the club members use
    it. The club members use of the golf couse is not written in stone. That use can be canceled if the property where to be come a Hotel and then sold to an out sider down the road which is the in tention of Lubert.
    You then maybe offered a new membership to the ocean course.

  4. Jane Goodman
    Jane Goodman says:

    Sham of a Town Hall Meeting Vote About the Lodge R

    This Town Hall Meeting was a sugar coated version of the last go round with Lubert- Adler. They own the golf course property and want to make money. Salamander does not own it. I assume you remember the last time they brought this up? It was fought all the way to the state government level and Lubert Adler lost.

    (To refresh your memory from their website: Lubert and Adler collectively have over 50 years of experience in underwriting, acquiring, repositioning, refinancing and exiting real estate assets. The key to this strategy is forging strategic alliances with financially motivated, local operating partners who possess superior local knowledge and execution capabilities.)

    They want to build, reposition it, and then sell it for a profit and they don’t care who they hurt. (We all remember those Ginn advertisements saying how there would never be any oceanfront building in front of us.)

    At the Town Hall Meeting, you could ask questions and vote right there if you were physically there but if you were not physically there and were attending via conference call listen only mode, you had to email the questions and could not vote. Few questions sent by listening attendees were read.

    This article was printed before the vote deadline. Sound honest? By Salamander making this sound like everyone is for it, they are twisting the facts since everyone has not voted. It is like declaring a winner three days before Election Day.

    After the meeting, the presenters took half a week to tell you where/how you could vote in this “straw poll.” They then gave you three days to vote….by last Friday….but they have been working on this for 10 mos. so they could not give you more time to gather info and vote because they were on a timeline. Hmm, they get 9 mos. 3 weeks and the people affected by this get 1 week. Sound fair to you?

    This “Fake” vote is especially unrealistic because of how they skewed the vote. Did you know that however many people live in your house or unit can vote? Who ever heard of that? So if 8 people live there, they get 8 votes. What ever happened to owners and their voting rights? Only owners should vote and it should be 1 vote per property. That is what you have to do for all HOA and POA votes. Why does this have different rules?

    Secondly, they say they need a vote but they don’t give you time enough to digest the information or tell the people affected. Many people called into a second call on Thursday, the day before the votes were due, and said they never received any info about the Town Hall Meeting in the first place.

    The Condo HOA and the members have not yet met to discuss this and the condo owners are the ones that will lose their view and have to deal with the construction. They deserve a vote.

    Look at it this way, if you don’t live near the Lodge so it does not affect your view…then you might vote for it.

    BUT, if you have everything to lose…the permanent loss of view…..the view that you paid for and they are trying to take away without reimbursement for your loss of value, 2 years of noise and construction, and for the owners who rent their units, the loss of rental income, then you are likely NOT FOR THE CURRENT PACKAGE.

    Additionally, what about the golf course restrictions? Do you really want to grant them a precedent where they are allowed to build on the golf course land?

    Salamander and Lubert Adler need to realize that they can’t ramrod this through with a phony timeline. The condo owners need to meet and discuss this as does the rest of the community.

    I hope the community and freeholders see through this sham and force a moratorium by Salamander – Lubert-Adler!

  5. Spencer Heine
    Spencer Heine says:

    Perhaps the Bridge is also for sale

    I do not believe that Salamander knows or cares what views are being impeded or what the value will drop. What I don’t understand is why the so called 85% think their Club experience will improve with the addition of major conventions. We pay over $800/month for our Club Membership. This is comparable to the dues at real Clubs, yet we receive very little real value. Perhaps Lubert Adler made so many deals with prospective buyers that the economics don’t work. Maybe Lincoln should have said you can fool 85% of the people most of the time

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