The St. Petersburg Yacht Club (SPYC) was founded in 1909 as a private yacht club along St. Petersburg’s downtown waterfront. Just as St. Petersburg has evolved in the last 100+ years, so has SPYC. The club undergoes a strategic review every five years to evaluate the needs of its members, the resilience of operations and facilities, and the sustainability of the club into the future. Through this thoughtful and deliberate process, it was determined the current clubhouse was not sustainable based on these requirements for efficient club operations, meeting member needs, and storm resiliency. A new downtown clubhouse was prescribed as the prudent direction for SPYC and voted unanimously into the master plan by the Board of Directors.
While still in design phase, the new clubhouse will be tastefully designed to maintain our rich yachting history and retain what SPYC members like about the club facilities while improving areas to meet the changing needs and desires of the members. Benefits from this project include critical storm resiliency, improved and updated dining facilities including outdoor covered areas, new kitchen facilities, increased parking capacity, enhancements to the pool and tiki bar, higher efficiency HVAC systems, and other desired amenities and programs.
Capital planning for the new downtown clubhouse, as well as other facility needs across SPYC properties, was also reviewed by the Board of Directors. Monthly capital fees and joining fees continue to contribute to the Club’s capital reserve funds, and there are currently no special assessments planned to fund this project.
The creative concepts for the clubhouse that were shared by the architect with SPYC’s membership gave us a glimpse into an exciting future at the club. The next steps are to move forward with the design phase to provide detailed plans and confirm the total cost budget.
SPYC engaged an experienced owner’s representative and architectural firm to ensure SPYC members’ interests are protected through this process. A qualified construction manager is going to be engaged to provide cost and build-ability expertise. These steps have been taken to keep the project on track and within budget. The next design phase will take approximately 6-8 months as we look closer at city building code details, the interior spaces, dining venues, and other member amenities. At the conclusion of this phase, SPYC will be able to provide members a more complete picture of the building design, construction timeline and associated total project costs.
SPYC members are encouraged to keep up to date on the new downtown clubhouse through the Smooth Sailing newsletter and other member communications in addition to updates published here.