As part of the SPYC Board of Directors’ fiduciary responsibility to the club and its members, the bylaws require a strategic review every five years, including an evaluation of the resiliency of the clubhouse. During a deliberate and thoughtful process, the Board looked ahead as a club and at other alternatives and determined that within the next five years, it would be inappropriate to continue to use this building as it stands now.
The downtown clubhouse has seen many renovations over the years, creating a layout that is not efficient for club operations, events or meeting the needs of the members. The structure is also at risk from storms due to its low elevation . Renovating the club within its current footprint would not protect against flooding risk brought by hurricanes and strong storms. Additionally, the current facility, its components, and equipment have reached their useful life with the need to commit millions of dollars in replacement and renovation projects.
Lifting the existing building would be extremely risky and costly due to multiple past structural renovations and additions. Additionally, once raised, it would need to be renovated and aging components replaced to meet the needs of the club and brought up to code. This process is multi-step and includes multiple permits which will lengthen the period of time for improvements. Members would not have access to the club during this time.
No. The building is not historic. There is a lot of history within the building that will be preserved and carried forward with the legacy of the club. In fact, the current building exterior and most of the interior was completely modified in the early 1990’s.
Member input will play a key role. SPYC wants to ensure that whatever is decided represents the best interests of members and the legacy of the club for the next 100 years.
These are concepts and ideas for how it could look. These are being shared with membership to spotlight what a future SPYC clubhouse downtown could look like and solicit member feedback. To date the member feedback on the designs has been well received.
Currently, SPYC is in the evaluation process set out by the master plan. Working with an owner’s representative and an architect, the next steps are to identify credible cost estimates. In keeping with this timeline, a potential groundbreaking could take place in 2028 but there are still many steps to complete and approvals to receive before this date is set in stone.
The current FEMA appraised value is $3.8M. FEMA limits the amount of renovation work to 49% of the appraised value. The cost of equipment replacement and renovation necessary to the clubhouse exceeded 49% of any realistic increase to the FEMA appraised value that could be achieved by obtaining updated appraisals.
As a private club, these details are discussed with membership directly through member communications and during member meetings. However the current plan is to fund approximately 50% of the project cost with the club’s capital reserves and finance the balance. No member special assessments are contemplated for this project.
There are no member special assessments planned. Funds for the new downtown clubhouse come from accumulation of capital reserves from monthly capital contributions and initiation fees.
It is the Board of Director’s fiduciary responsibility to maintain the long-term financial stability of the club. At no point will the Board recommend any actions that risk the financial stability of the club.
Yes, SPYC welcomes direct donations to our building campaign. Please contact Colleen Finney, General Manager, (gm@spyc.org, 727-893-1219) to discuss in more detail.
SPYC is in the early stages of design and final square footage details are being evaluated. Conceptually, the building will be approximately 50,000 square feet, slightly less than SPYC’s current facility. Through efficiencies realized in a new clubhouse, the facility would add functions and benefits for the members that do not currently exist in slightly less square footage.
A full evaluation of club use by members and revenue generated through event space rentals will be conducted to determine the needs and flexibility of space in the new clubhouse. This is done through the assistance of the architect with the club management.
The new clubhouse will have recreated and flexible food and beverage venues, modernized kitchens and kitchen equipment, additional parking, enhanced views of the city parks and Tampa Bay, a new pool, pool deck and tiki bar, higher efficiency HVAC, enhanced sound systems, all at an elevation to protect the building from future storms and flooding
Yes! Situated along downtown St. Petersburg’s scenic waterfront, SPYC enjoys an ideal location for a yacht club. At the same time, its waterside position exposes the building to storm risks. The new clubhouse will be elevated, protecting against storm surge concerns, and meet building standards for storm resiliency. In addition, we will be looking at ways to reduce the operations environmental .
We are still several years away from construction. SPYC will continue to operate during construction at an alternate facility and will have a plan available for members well in advance. Additionally, the Sailing Center, marinas, and the Pass-a-Grille beach clubhouse will not be impacted by the clubhouse construction.
We strongly encourage members to stay up to date on the project through the Smooth Sailing newsletter and member meetings. Additionally, members can submit input, feedback or questions, through the contact us section of this website or directly at member meetings.
A special section of the Smooth Sailing newsletter is dedicated to keeping members up to date on the process. Additionally, members are encouraged to attend member meetings.