How Does a Developer

Owe the City $570,000..

Sometimes the most expensive words in government aren't “tax increase.” They're “we're still working it out.”

 

For nearly seven years, Venice residents have watched grand visions for a signature hotel at the Venice Municipal Airport come and go. Slick renderings. Big promises. Exciting announcements. Yet if you drive by the airport property today, near 150 Airport Ave. E, Venice, FL 34285, you won't find a thriving boutique hotel welcoming visitors.

 

Instead, you'll find the latest chapter in what has become an increasingly complicated dispute between the City of Venice and the developer that promised to transform the property.

 

Now the city says the developer owes more than $570,000 in unpaid rent and late fees. The developer says... not so fast.

 

So who's right?

 

As with many government-development partnerships, the answer depends on which stack of paperwork you're reading. 

Back in 2019, Horizon 880 LLC signed what most developers would consider the deal of a lifetime. The company secured a 75-year lease on roughly 12 acres at the Venice Municipal Airport—an unusually long agreement involving airport property, where the Federal Aviation Administration plays an important oversight role. The vision was ambitious.

 

A destination called Ringling Park, honoring Venice's circus history, with a hotel, offices, restaurants and commercial space. The city even announced in 2019 that the proposed investment was expected to exceed $27 million. It sounded like exactly the kind of project capable of bringing visitors, investment and new energy to the airport district.

 

But then... reality showed up

.

Seven Years Later...Today, there is no completed hotel. No ribbon cutting. No guests checking in. Instead, there are lawyers exchanging letters. According to the City of Venice, Horizon 880 has failed to meet multiple obligations under its lease. The biggest issue? Money.

 

The city says required lease payments began nearly two years ago and Horizon has failed to make them, leaving more than $521,000 in unpaid rent, plus nearly $50,000 in late fees. Combined, that's more than $570,000 the city says it's owed. City officials also contend the developer failed to provide required insurance documentation, missed permitting deadlines, and substantially altered development plans without obtaining prior approval required under the lease.

 

The city's message was straightforward:

Fix the problems—or risk losing the lease.

 

If you expected Horizon 880 to simply write a check, that's not what happened. Instead, the company fired back with a legal response arguing that it isn't in default at all. Its position? The project has been delayed largely because of circumstances outside its control—and in several cases, because of actions taken by the city itself. According to the developer, it has already invested more than $550,000 into planning, engineering, architecture, legal work and permitting efforts.

 

They argue they weren't sitting still. They were trying to navigate a moving target. Every Time the Finish Line Moved. The developer points to a series of obstacles that it says fundamentally changed the project.

First came stormwater issues involving the Florida Department of Transportation.

 

Then came rezoning. Then new architectural review requirements. 

Then ongoing efforts to accommodate Tito Gaona's Trapeze Academy, one of the last remaining pieces of Venice's circus history. Plans evolved. Designs changed. Costs increased. Deadlines slipped.

And eventually the original vision became something much different than what was approved in 2019.

 

From Horizon's perspective, asking them to pay full rent while government agencies and regulatory changes continued reshaping the project simply doesn't make sense. Their attorneys argue the lease anticipated rent payments beginning once income-producing buildings existed—not while the project remained trapped in years of regulatory revisions.

 

The Bigger Question Nobody Wants to Ask and here's where this story gets interesting. If the developer truly ignored its obligations, why did the city allow the situation to continue for nearly two years before issuing a formal default notice?

 

On the other hand...

If city decisions repeatedly changed the rules, should the developer still be held to deadlines established before those changes occurred?

 

Rather than escalating immediately into litigation, Horizon 880 has asked the city to hit the pause button. The company wants 90 days to negotiate a revised lease that reflects today's reality rather than the assumptions made back in 2019. During that time, Horizon says it will provide updated insurance documentation, continue moving site plans through the approval process, submit revised conceptual plans and pursue remaining architectural approvals.

 

Whether that's enough remains to be seen, because what's really at stake isn't just about unpaid rent. It's about whether one of Venice's highest-profile redevelopment projects survives.

 

If negotiations succeed, residents could finally see movement on a project that's been discussed for years. If they fail, the city could terminate the lease and start over—sending the property back to square one after nearly seven years of planning, redesigns, negotiations and delays.

 

Either outcome carries a price. The only real question left is...

Which one will cost Venice more?