The Resort
Sundial Beach Resort is the most popular family oriented resort on Sanibel. The Resort is made up of individually owned condominiums which the owners may lease back to the resort operators and share in the income produced to help defray the expenses of ownership. In this age of disappearing tax shelters, this is a means of investing in a vacation condominium and enjoying some tax benefits still allowed by the IRS with respect to writing off expenses and depreciation. Consult a knowledgeable tax accountant to determine the full tax implications in your particular tax bracket. There are some benefits for all brackets.
There are two Condominium Associations at Sundial. Condo West, Phases 1-3, located on the right side of the Resort�s main building containing the lobby and restaurants, and Condo East, Phases 4-6, which is located on the left side of the Resort�s main building.
Sundial Condo West was developed in 1973/1974, before the city was incorporated and prior to any land use plan being adopted. There are 20 units per acre constructed on the West side, and the buildings closest to the beach are constructed forward of the existing Coastal Construction set-back line. You can no longer build this close to the water�s edge. Present day zoning allows only 5 dwelling units per acre to be built. Therefore, never again will units of this size be built, and certainly not as close to the water�s edge. Sundial Condo West offers some unique investment advantages because of its smaller one and two bedroom units.
Sundial Condo East is a separate condominium association. Sundial Condo East has all large 1500+ square footage condominiums with convertible dens. Phases V & VI have built in microwave ovens, wet bars, and washer/dryers. All second story apartments in Phases V & VI come with a first floor cabana, offering and additional entry via a spiral staircase from the balcony. Phase IV does not have the above mentioned features or cabanas. The floor plans of Phase IV are also slightly different from Phases V & VI but almost identical in size.
There are 407 total units at Sundial. Some owners live here all year as primary residents, others use their units as Winter residences or vacation homes and do not rent out their apartments. A number of owners rent their units by themselves while others rent through off-site rental agencies. There are approximately 267 owners leasing their units through the Resort and sharing in the income and other special benefits. Special benefits include a guaranteed income program, free greens fees at the Dunes Golf Club, free tennis, special discounts at the Resort, etc.