Frisbie Group sold a resort in Islamorada in the Florida Keys to the Wills Companies and its partners for $72 million.
The buyers plan to sell the 22 villas included within the oceanfront resort, called Islands of Islamorada, as single-family homes and maintain the eight-key hotel, according to a press release. The Wills Companies and its partners will continue to manage the individually sold villas and provide short-term rental services that owners can opt into, principal Tim Wills confirmed.
“[Owners] never have to make their bed or buy toilet paper,” he said. “We should be able to make them a return on their property.”
The property includes two pools, two pickleball courts, a private beach, marina and driving range, the release shows. The villas span 3,000-square-feet with four bedrooms, and will be listed with Ocean Sotheby’s starting at $5 million, Wills confirmed. The villas currently rent for nightly rates starting at $1,700, the resort’s website shows.
Wills expects buyers for the homes will be “high net worth individuals” from Florida and the Northeast looking for a second or third home. Sales will kick off in the fall, and he anticipates selling the villas out within three years.
“Our business plan allows for three years. We hope to do it sooner, but we were very conservative in our underwriting,” Wills said.
Washington, D.C.-based Wills partnered with Urgo Hotels, Indigo Hotel Group LLC, Badlands Hotel Capital, Dolben Company, and Ocean Sotheby’s International Realty to acquire the property at 82779 Old Highway in Islamorada. Ocean Sotheby’s, led by CEO Russell Post, brokered the deal.
Palm Beach-based Frisbie, led by Dave Frisbie, Rick Frisbie, Robert Frisbie Sr. and Suzanne Frisbie, bought the 1.7-acre oceanfront property for $7 million in 2017, records show. Frisbie completed the resort in 2020, and has operated it since then.
Frisbie provided “substantial” seller financing, and the firm is partnering on the property as well, Wills confirmed.
Occupancy at the resort surged during the pandemic, but has since dropped to pre-2020 levels, Wills said. Still, even in the slower summer season it’s been busy.
“It’s been a welcome surprise, the amount of Floridians that use the Keys as their Hamptons,” Wills said. “We sold out all but one villa for the July Fourth week.”
Part of the strong demand is a strict limit on development for similar properties in the Keys, thanks to Monroe County’s Rate of Growth Ordinance (ROGO). Wills said ROGO restricts the pipeline of projects that could compete with the Islands of Islamorada.