Summer 2021 Newsletter

August 19, 2021     Las Olas Beach Club Association

A message from the president of the Association, Tim Nolan.


Well, it’s been an interesting and unprecedented year to say the least. We have been open a year since the mandatory two month closure. Despite and because of COVID we kept very busy as described on the following pages. While we have greatly missed many owners, marketing, new renters and RCIs have increased our overall demand, adding to our owner and rental base. Florida is bustling and car rental waits are at holiday levels every week.  The staff is all well and many thousands of guests have safely stayed with us. 


Speaking of demand, when we enter summer our occupancy goes up as we see more families as opposed to just couples or foursomes at other times of year.  Our vacation occupancy is 6 people sleeping and using the facilities.  If your group has expanded beyond 6 people you need to examine your needs and obtain the required space, through RCI, by rental or by ownership. Many owners have friends and family nearby or passing by for a visit. This is normal, expected and welcomed.  However, having friends and family that know you does not entitle multiple households in excess of 6 to converge on and utilize our facilities all week. Get with Karen!   Karen can be reached at (321) 408-6060.


Our new pool deck activities are attracting attention causing an uptick in strangers trying to breach or charm their way in and some try parking here to walk to the public accesses. Parking is always at a premium here as it is. Because of this we have no trespassing and towing signs and we require everyone and every vehicle to be registered at all times, even post COVID.  We check for passes frequently and don’t be upset if we ask for your name and if/where you belong. This helps with security and for consideration of all those who adhere to occupancy limits.


CURRENT AND FUTURE ENDEAVORS

What We Have Been Doing Since 2020


Starting with the closure of 2020 we:


  • Completed the balance of 80 bathroom remodels. They are beautiful.
  • Put new flooring in about half of the kitchens and replaced the original drop ceiling with can lights in those kitchens.
  • Improved drainage, sloped and resurfaced exterior landings in both buildings along with additional drainage in front of elevators.
  • Replaced 5 elevator sills and an elevator car door.
  • Purchased new coffee makers with single serve and carafe capabilities.
  • Installed safes in all units.
  • Installed new garbage chute in south building and new chute doors in both buildings.
  • Replaced fire hoses and fire pump controller.
  • Replaced Trex outside party room with pavers.
  • Re-surfaced and striped parking area.
  • Installed new LED lights in stairwells and outside front doors.
  • Completed new million dollar roof.
  • Delivered fiber to the buildings for tv/phone/internet.
  • Removed bedspreads and introduced enhanced cleaning procedures.
  • Check-in time reverted from 3:00PM to 4:00PM firm per the condo docs and will remain there.
  • Sand was trucked onto the beach-a county/state/federal project planned for more than 2 decades.  We have had sand before but not in this magnitude.


Tilan, Inc., greatly increased marketing funds to lure new people to its www.beachclubs.com website. We had to fill available rentals caused by those unable to come due to COVID travel restrictions.


What We Are Planning For 2021


This year we plan to accomplish the following items:


· Complete the balance of front hallway floors.  All 80 bathrooms are remodeled.  All kitchens will have new flooring and drop ceiling with can lighting for improved appearance. Kitchen cabinets and counters will be updated in the future.


· Renovate the original office for ergonomics and increased power/ technology needs; planned since 2010 but other things came up. This will be better for staff now and more enticing to future staff hires.


· Relocate and increase laundry space and add another commercial washer/dryer combo. The increased laundry turnover precipitated by COVID made this a necessity.


· New office phone system and bundling of phone/internet/cable TV with one vendor – Spectrum.  Increase and improve internet service for all units.


· Rain screen for the button sides of the elevators.


· Paint building and replace/paint roof fascia on north and east sides of both buildings.


These improvements total almost 4 million dollars since the bathroom remodels began. We accomplished this with reserves, an insurance settlement from Irma and a loan from BB&T bank (now Truist Financial). Financing allowed us to keep remodeling without an assessment or raising maintenance fees while the insurance negotiations went on (for several years). 


MANAGEMENT TEAM


Management holds meetings on-site, typically Monday’s at 11:00AM.  We bring coffee & donuts and do a drawing for attendees. Join hosts Christine, Suzanne and Karen for a very informative gathering.


Christine Foote has been with us over 21 years. She oversees all administration, accounts payable and receivable, rental taxes and closings of resales. She recounts projects completed and planned and touches on the need to be aware of, and take care of, title work on your week(s). You want to be prepared for heirs, resale and estate planning.  You want to avoid probate!  She will refer you to a local title company to assist with your planning.


Suzanne O’Brien joined us in 2017 bringing business, hotel and rental experience.  Her specialty is our rental program, but more importantly still, she schedules the rooms for everybody.  Scheduling requires conversations with owners to get everyone placed. When you own different units on multiple weeks, we cannot keep you in another owners unit without them accepting a different unit as well, and so on, and new sales add to the complexity. The schedule must be sorted in advance, if she leaves you a message – return her call as it may be about a rental for you or critical to your stay options!  Please note the rental program is first come first serve, plan accordingly, the longer you wait to put your unit up for rent, the chances of it renting will decrease.   


Karen Piccirillo began her career at Las Olas Beach Club of Cocoa Beach then joined Hilton and Disney before returning to us. She is most knowledgeable plus has a work ethic second to none. She is our transaction agent for resales, facilitating agreements between buyers and sellers. She has also helped owners obtain, through purchase and sale, different units and times of year as their needs change.  The resort sells itself but you may help buyers and sellers by referring all inquiries to her.  Please, please do not discuss prices as you do not know what another seller will accept; we don’t even know until negotiations on the proper listing begin. When it’s your turn to sell, you will not want someone else quoting prices that are irrelevant to your particular unit, time of year and circumstances. Karen starts by helping discover what unit and time of year best suits the needs of potential buyers.


We also have Patty who you will meet at check in, Lacey is here for activities, Don & Ryan our maintenance team, Krafty Karen and Swimmy Patricia and of course we still have Chris and Tim.

Share This Post:

December 2021 - Structural Safety

By Las Olas Beach Club Association • December 18, 2021
We are starting a new monthly newsletter, and have already had 108 people join from the sign-up link in our Facebook post! If you didn't already sign up and would like to continue receiving our newsletters, please head on over to our newsletter sign-up form by clicking here. Then plan on only hearing from us once a month so we don't overload your inbox. ;) To kick us off, we would like to address a popular concern: structural safety. Miami Condo Collapse This past summer, a condominium partially collapsed in south Florida, resulting in tremendous loss of life, and prompting calls from guests about engineering certifications and proof of safety. At this point, though likely due to be enhanced, the State only requires we file a form every three years called the Division of Hotels and Restaurants Certificate of Balcony Inspection. Las Olas Beach Club Inspections As you see, that form is concerned with loose/weak railings leading to failure and falls. We were due for inspection and hired an engineer to perform the service. Subsequent to the event down south, the engineer would not sign any form about balcony railings without observing the condition of building as a whole. He looked at rails, decks, walls and floors of the entire resort. He noted about a dozen non-structural items (i.e., cracks to caulk to prevent water intrusion, etc.) but nothing that jeopardizes the structure of the building nor the safety of the people therein. The State does not inspect condominiums for soundness – that falls upon the owners and their governing bodies and managers they supervise. Barring an extreme event such as a sinkhole or earthquake, only design flaws or neglected corrosion would cause a building structure to fail - and corrosion should be visible. A recent report about the collapsed building concluded that the amount of corrosion was “astronomical.” It should have been seen and addressed, perhaps years ago. What Does This Mean for Las Olas? Our buildings are made of concrete and steel, with steel post tension cables to compress the slabs spanning the poured walls between the units. 40-year-old buildings in our corrosive environment are subject to salt mist onslaught, and we continuously monitor and repair them. The only portions of our buildings that ever exhibited corrosion in need of thorough repair were the oceanfront balconies, so we sawed them off and replaced them entirely. We did the north building in 2005 and the south in 2009. We used new formulated steel, poured denser concrete, and installed new protected post tension cables superior to the materials that had lasted almost 25 years.

COVID-19 Update

By Las Olas Beach Club Association • November 20, 2020
Las Olas Beach Club is open to all registered guests. We follow local, state and federal guidelines to keep our staff and guests safe. Here are some guidelines and protocols in place for your stay: We request online Pre-Registration to reduce contact time at check in. Face masks are currently not mandated. Housekeepers wear masks for their tasks. Let us know upon check in if you want us masked for your registration and for anyone entering your room for room calls. Everyone’s comfort level is different; please be considerate of others. Hand Sanitizer is available in several locations around the resort. Our cleaning contractors use CDC/EPA approved products on all contact areas (door handles, elevator buttons, desks, hard surfaces, etc.). We use SANI-QUAT, a quaternary ammonium, as a COVID-19 contact and residual killer. Units, common areas, elevators & pool deck are treated prior to weekly arrivals. We no longer have bedspreads. Bed and bath linens are washed and replaced weekly. Resort activities have evolved for everyone’s safety. Activities now take place outside during the day. Although we are taking precautions, please note that any location where people are present provides an inherent risk of exposure to COVID-19 and we cannot guarantee that you will not be exposed during your visit. These procedures have been in use since May 16th and well over 6,000 owners, RCI exchanges and renters in and out of the resort with zero reported Covid-19 positive test cases as a result of their stay. Apart from additional chemicals, new linen procedures, the Las Olas experience has remained pretty much the same as it has all 40 years – fun! The resort provides great social distancing options with 30 foot wide private balconies and miles of lovely beach. Early risers and evening swimmers had the pool to themselves even during the busiest weeks. The overwhelming majority of guests have been comfortable with their neighbors and the environment at the resort. We expect to remain open and proceed safely as we have for 17 months now.