Florida Agenda

Tony Dee is a local philanthropist and successful entrepreneur. He has been working in the Wilton Manors area since 1990, and many say he can be credited with starting Wilton Manors. Agenda sat down with him to talk past, present and future!

You have owned property in Wilton Manors for over two decades. What brought you to the area?

My ex-business partner and I were looking for a gay night spot, and we found the Palms which we turned into Chardees for 17 years. Named after my business partner, Charlie Mielky, and myself, we took the ‘Char’ and the ‘Dee’ and made Chardees.

How do you feel the area has changed over the last ten years?

Better than 200 fold! When I came to Wilton manors in the summer of 1990, it was a depressed area, but then, slowly but surely, gay men and ladies purchased these run down homes, fixed them up and turned Wilton Manors into what it is today.

What are the advantages to being in the area?

I’d have to say comfort. Wilton Manors is predominantly gay, just about everyone knows each other. It’s comfortable and I am ecstatic to be part of it.

What disadvantages do you see here?

One of the disadvantages are that many people are coming into the area to rent and don’t do their homework. They think that they just have to put up security, take a store with a few items right away and that they can just sit back and make a living. That just doesn’t happen, you need to know the area.

How is The Schubert doing? How was the season?

The Schubert is doing well; I had the best season in 3 years this past season. I give many thanks to all the gay resorts in the area that helped me get started in the first year when I turned the Schubert  from straight to gay. I worked with the publications who made it clear, when all the other gay resorts were full, try the Schubert, they are new and that’s how I built my clientele.

Do you enjoy owning the hotel? Do you have any plans to add more hotels to your portfolio?

Yes, I do enjoy the hotel; I enjoy meeting people from around the world, their personalities fascinate me, but I do not have any plans for more hotels.

There has been a lot of talk recently about landlords on and around the Drive raising rents. How do feel about this?
It’s a two edged sword. The tenants don’t want to pay more because of the economy. Landlords have to increase rents because taxes are so high. There will always be a clash there.

What do you think landlords can do to help?

We can hold back the increases, which I have done in the past to my renters who have got into trouble. There is only so much I can do, as it comes out of my pockets. I fight Broward County every year for all my shopping centers to keep taxes where they are, but because I’m 100% rented it’s hard to cry wolf!

Do you have any intention in raising your rents in the near future?

Yes, again it’s because of real estate taxes.

What do you feel is missing, if anything, from the area?

More key stores and more big name stores off the top of my head. The only big name we have here is Starbucks! I’d like to see a men’s store that has shirts, dress clothes, sport clothes, but a name store like an Abercrombie.

What do you see in the future for the area?

I really feel it will just keep growing.  There is a major parking problem; everyone addresses it, but it has not been dealt with as yet.

What would you advise to people considering moving or renting space here in Wilton Manors?

As far as renting, do your homework, have money in the bank that can carry you for a year. I had a soap shop come in once that sold bath soap for $10 a bar. They were in and out in no time!

Is there another local area on your radar for future development?

No. I don’t know of any.

You have been a landmark entrepreneur in Wilton Manors. What would you like your legacy to be here?

Tony Dee Started Wilton Manors! In the less than a year, Chardees became an international success. I was able to bring in major celebrities like Eartha Kitt and the Glenn Miller Orchestra that people could not have afforded to see!

Tony Dee is the Proprietor of  The Schubert Resort in Victoria Park. You can visit their website at www.schubertresort.com

Classic South Florida with a Touch of Modern Luxury

(Photo: Tony Dee, owner of the Schubert Resort)

By Bob Kecskemety

Long before the concrete wall of high-rise Hiltons, Ws, Ritz Carltons and Hyatts lined the beachfront, residential neighborhoods in northeast Fort Lauderdale of Lake Ridge and Victoria Park, were interspersed with small to medium-sized mom and pop “apartment” buildings which were used to house vacationers in our area. Most only had 2 floors and many had only 3 or 4 units which could be rented by the week, month or season, few had a swimming pool but one thing they almost all had in common was lush tropical landscaping and great, personalized service from the hosts. Sparked by the tourism boom in Fort Lauderdale, these establishments, built in the 1940s, ‘50s and ‘60s were much more common here than any established hotel chain; except perhaps Holiday Inns.

As laws regulating hotels and motels grew more restrictive in our area, the small properties started to be replaced with familiar big establishment names on the beach, most of these apartment buildings fell to disrepair and most have since been torn down, many being replaced by high rise apartment buildings and hotels.
The Schubert Apartments, built in 1953, survived the movement to “bigger is better” and is now better known as the Schubert Resort, a historic gay property located behind the Gateway Shopping Center in Victoria Park, Fort Lauderdale.

Real estate mogul, Tony Dee bought the Schubert on July 11, 2003 with plans to turn it into a first-class gay resort in the Gateway area of Fort Lauderdale. Dee was no stranger to gay business ownership in Fort Lauderdale, having opened Chardee’s restaurant on Wilton Drive (one of the earliest gay businesses in Wilton Manors) and owning several of the strip shopping centers on “The Drive.”

“I thought it would a super place for gay people,” said Dee. “It was straight and run-down to the point I put two and half million dollars into it to renovate the property. It worked.”

However, purchasing the Schubert was Dee’s first problem. He had to deal with the people already staying at the resort.

“The resort was mostly straight,” said Dee. “We had straight reservations we had to honor. We were advertising in the gay publications and the gays didn’t want to be the straights and the straights didn’t want to stay with the gays.”

Dee was forced to make a decision that no businessperson wishes to make. He refunded all the money back for the straight reservations that had been taken. From that point on, the Schubert Resort has been 100-percent gay.

Despite the renovations and much of the modernization made by Dee, the Schubert retains much of its old-Florida retro charm. The colors on the outside, though upgraded, remain the colors used in the rainbow of house colors used at that time and are still commonly used in the older portions of northeast Fort Lauderdale.

The pool area has all been replanted along with the addition of an outdoor spa. The large covered patio area to the south of the lobby is available to accommodate large groups of people all within a covered tropical setting.

Dee explains that the Schubert would have had a rough time that first year had it not been for the other gay guesthouses in the area during Thanksgiving and Christmas time. “When people would call them and make a reservation and the other guest house was full, they would tell the caller to try the Schubert, the new guy in town. They were very good to us.” Dee says that 98-percent of their bookings now come from the Internet.

The Schubert itself has become something of a star, having been used since Dee’s purchase and renovation, in several Hollywood major motion pictures including Ali staring Will Smith and Gays Gone Wild.

Times have been tough for the hospitality industry down here explains Dee. “Anybody who tells you, especially in the gay resort industry that their business is way up is lying,” said Dee. Dee explained that the regular season was very good but generally after the Fourth of July holidays, bookings slow down everywhere. However, he’s expecting things to pick up again in October right before regular tourist season beings. He also does a good pre- and post-cruise business.
“They stay here for three nights before the cruise and when they come back many stay another two or three nights after the cruise. So that works out good.”

For more information or to Book a Reservation, please visit Schubert Resort on Mark’s List