20-03-2025
New owner wants to revive Treasure Island Yacht Club
Since the 1970s, the Treasure Island Tennis and Yacht Club was the backdrop for countless weddings, pool parties, community meetings, sailing races and boat parades. In its heyday the club had upwards of 1,600 members and condominiums on site.
Over the years the club was renovated. It changed owners and changed names. It narrowly escaped financial ruin on more than one occasion.
In August 2023, after nearly 50 years, it closed without warning.
Then-owner and local business mogul Bill Edwards told the Tampa Bay Times he filed for bankruptcy on the club because he was 'tired of losing money.'
Now after sitting vacant for two years, the storied property may be poised for a comeback.
'We want to restore the club to its former glory,' said Jason Gerbsman, a real estate broker who is representing the club's current owner, Tavaco Properties.
He is looking for a tenant to lease the property, which comes complete with six tennis courts, a pool with tiki a bar and a 47-slip marina. The 39,198-square-foot building on the site features a restaurant with a commercial kitchen, a catering hall, bridal suites, a fitness area and locker rooms.
Gerbsman declined to share the price per square foot.
When Tavaco acquired the club last year, partner Sam Tavakoli outlined an ambitious vision to bring multiple operators in to run different aspects of the space.
From the pool to the tennis courts, to the catering hall 'we want the best in each category,' he said in an interview with the Times.
Before that plan could get off the ground, hurricanes Helene and Milton hit Treasure Island with a force, devastating properties and scaring off tourists.
The club's marina was damaged by the storm and needs to be refurbished or replaced. But Gerbsman said the rest of the facility remains in good shape.
'The community is going to come back bigger and stronger than ever,' he said, adding that the opportunity to take over the club 'is going to offer tremendous longterm potential for whoever comes in.'
When asked if the owners would consider selling the property, Gerbsman said they recently received an offer but that the buyer's proposed use would have required a zoning variance.
Before he sold it, Edwards wanted to add condos to the site. That plan was thwarted by the City of Treasure Island.
Tavakoli previously told reporters that he was not interested in redeveloping the property.
'Perhaps if the right group came along that was looking to do the right thing by the property and for the community ownership may consider a sale,' Gerbsman said. 'You never know!'
