St. Pete Beach approves hotly contested Sirata Beach Resort expansion
By Ashley Gurbal Kritzer
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Feb 28, 2024

St. Pete Beach officials have approved a redevelopment project to add over 400 hotel rooms to Sirata Beach Resort.

The city commission on Tuesday voted 3-2 in favor of the Sirata expansion. St. Pete Beach residents have staunchly opposed the expansion; an initial hearing on the project lasted more than 10 hours.

A portion of the resort will be demolished to make way for two new hotels, a 10-story, 290-room JW Marriott and a nine-story, 130-key Hampton Inn.

Kentucky-based Columbia Sussex, which owns the resort, had requested St. Pete Beach Mayor Adrian Petrila recuse himself from the vote. Columbia Sussex alleges Petrila was involved with an anti-development group opposing the Sirata expansion after taking office.

Petrila declined to recuse himself and voted against the project.

“Regardless of the vote for or against, I would be remiss if I didn’t commend the members of the city commission for their dedication, thoughtfulness and engagement on this project,” Elise Batsel, a partner at Stearns Weaver Miller in Tampa who represented Columbia Sussex in the municipal process, said in a statement. “It was exceptional.”

Columbia Sussex paid over $200 million for the Sirata in late 2022. The resort sits on 13 acres.