Jul. 31—Allegiant's Sunseeker Resort Charlotte Harbor, the untouched shell building that has loomed over the Peace River shoreline for more than a year and a half, will be completed after all.
John Redmond, president of the airline and travel company, said on an earnings call this week that resort's construction, which was halted in March 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, is set to resume after 17 months.
Details on an exact start date — and when the massive resort will finally open to the public — will be announced at a company press conference Aug. 3, Redmond said. The company will also discuss its plans for the Kingsway Golf Course, which was purchased by Allegiant as a service for Sunseeker guests.
Construction is moving ahead with the help of a new $350 million loan taken out by the company, Redmond said, with the resort placed collateral. Final loan documents are expected to be completed within 30 to 45 days.
Allegiant initially halted construction on Sunseeker right when the pandemic hit in March 2020. Redmond said the company wanted to wait until its balance sheet had improved.
"Fourteen months since I made the comment, and 17 months since we stopped, we have that stronger balance sheet I referenced — significantly stronger, I might add," he said on the earnings call.
It was expected that Sunseeker would put Charlotte County on the map from a tourism standpoint. But for the last year and a half it's been an eyesore and there's been speculation about what Allegiant would do with the site.
Maury Gallagher, chairman and CEO of Allegiant, said on the earnings call that the company considers Southwest Florida to possibly be "the best leisure vacation area in the country."
The resort is within driving distance to three of its top performing markets — Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport, Punta Gorda Airport and St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport, he said. Historically, Allegiant has carried about 4 million passengers a year in and out of those three destinations.
"In early 2020 we were well on our way to growing our model including building out Sunseeker," Gallagher said on the call. "We are back in this same position today as we were in that early part of 2020."
When it's completed, the resort will feature approximately 500 hotel rooms and about 180 one-, two- and three-bedroom extended stay suites.
Allegiant earned $95 million in net income in its second quarter this year, an increase of 34.7% over the second quarter in 2019, when the company earned $70.5 million.
Revenue is slightly down compared to two years ago, however — Allegiant brought in $472.4 million in revenue in the third quarter of 2021, compared to $491.8 million in 2019.
But things are certainly vastly better than last year, when the company brought in a measly $133.3 million in revenue in the second quarter.
Allegiant is currently the only operating airline at Punta Gorda Airport, and the largest carrier at Sarasota- Bradenton, where it continues to add new service.
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