Aug. 30, 2003 - LONGBOAT KEY, Fla.--People calling to make reservations at the Holiday Inn Hotel and Suites at Longboat Key expressed surprise -- and interest -- when they heard that 29 condominiums would soon replace the hotel.

The hotel is not closed yet, the property sale has not closed yet, but condominiums are already half sold out.

"They call up and say, "How much are the condos?' " said Michael Rukowski, front desk clerk and 12-year employee of the Holiday Inn.

The closing of the Holiday Inn continues a trend on area beaches of replacing older buildings with upscale condos.

About 60 employees, including Rukowski, will lose their jobs on Labor Day when the hotel at 4949 Gulf of Mexico Drive closes its doors to clear the way for the wrecking ball.

After serving between 2 and 3 million guests over 30 years, employees will serve breakfast in the dining room to the last guests Monday.

The sale will close within 30 to 45 days, according to Robert Glantz, president of Positano, the group that will buy and develop the property.

The hotel will be demolished in October to make room for Positano, a 29-condominium development.

"We'll say goodbye to everybody Monday as the liquidators come in the back door," said Ken Mason, president of Mason Hospitality Services Inc., the management company that ran the Holiday Inn for 13 years.

Everything from silk flower arrangements in the lobby to the crown molding around the ceiling will be sold.

Despite prices that start at $1.95 million for a 3,200-square-foot unit, condominiums have sold briskly since May when sales kicked off. Prices cap-out at $4.4 million for a 4,700-square-foot penthouse.

Most of the condominium buyers are residents of Longboat Key, said Tom Cail, a Realtor with ReMax Properties. Construction is scheduled to begin in early November and should be done by December 2004, Cail said.

The closing has been bittersweet for everybody, Mason said.

"We all hate to see it go away," Mason said. "When a hotel like this closes, it's automatically assumed that it was a failing proposition. It wasn't. It was a cash cow."

But after 30 years, the hotel faced extensive upgrades in infrastructure, and the expenses would have been major, Mason said.

"I guess the condo boom hit the owner and his family at just the right time."

Glantz said the hotel is past its prime, and "the highest best use based on zoning is for condominiums."

Zoning for the 10-acre property is three units per acre.

"The zoning perpetuates a situation where a 146-room hotel cannot be replaced with a 146-room hotel," Glantz said.

The Holiday Inn's closure has impacted the local business community, labor force and visitors bureau.

Without the Holiday Inn, the Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau will lose about $100,000 a year. The bureau proposes cutting its marketing budget by 29 percent, or $312,832, in 2004.

"The hotel goes away and it impacts everything else," Glantz said.

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(c) 2003, The Bradenton Herald, Fla. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News. SXC,