A developer wants to build a hotel, dozens of condos, a restaurant and a marina on one of the last stretches of undeveloped waterfront near Jupiter Inlet, reviving a long-stalled project that was once halted after archaeological testing uncovered artifacts and human remains at a site many believe to be a Native American burial ground. Charles Modica has submitted plans for the mixed-use Sperry project at 961 and 997 North Highway A1A, and the Jupiter Town Council is set to consider it Thursday.
The roughly 10.5-acre proposal, as detailed by The Real Deal, calls for a three-story, 110-key hotel, 44 condominium units, a 7,500-square-foot restaurant with 1,890 square feet of outdoor seating, 400 square feet of retail space, a 3,560-square-foot hotel spa and wellness center, and a marina with 17 docking spots. Modica is seeking town approval along with land-use and zoning changes needed to move the project forward, according to the same report. The site is known in planning documents as the Sperry parcel, and entities tied to Modica own the underlying land.
It's a notable comeback for a site that has sat largely vacant for years. The 961 North Highway A1A parcel, measuring 9.9 acres per The Real Deal's reporting, was once home to the Suni Sands mobile home park, which closed roughly a decade before this week's council meeting and has since been largely demolished. The smaller, 0.6-acre parcel at 997 North Highway A1A still holds a 5,700-square-foot retail building constructed in 1956 that housed an ice cream shop and a surf gear store; that building is slated for demolition under the proposed project.
A Decade-Old Dispute Over Buried History
Modica previously sought to develop the same site, paying a combined $17.2 million for the two properties in 2013, according to The Real Deal. Those earlier plans stalled after the property was discovered to be a Native American archaeological site, a finding that reshaped years of negotiations between Modica and the town. As CBS12 reported, archaeological testing at the site uncovered extensive historic artifacts and human remains, contributing to the yearslong delay.
Reports differ on exactly what Modica paid and when. The Real Deal and stet News both tie the purchase to 2013, with stet News reporting a price of about $17 million, while WFLX has reported the land was purchased for approximately $16 million in 2016. The discrepancy has never been fully reconciled across coverage of the deal.
The site itself holds deep significance beyond the dispute over Modica's plans. According to a 2022 notice from the Town of Jupiter, the property contains the 4.07-acre Suni Sands Shell Midden, a registered archaeological site, along with roughly 950 linear feet of the former Celestial Railway route. That same notice identified 961 A1A LLC and 997 A1A LLC as the listed property owners and noted that Jupiter's Historic Resources Board was scheduled to hear evidence for and against a Certificate to Dig application at a public hearing.
January's Settlement Carved Out Room to Build
Jupiter's Town Council approved a settlement in January in a 4-1 vote, resolving the long-running fight over what could be built on the property, per CBS12's account of the meeting. The settlement requires that sensitive portions of the land remain open space or conservation land, with no development permitted on the shell midden itself, the station reported.
Under the settlement terms, roughly 4.5 acres of the property can be developed, according to The Real Deal, while the town will preserve 4.1 acres of land and create a 1.4-acre park. The deal also calls for Modica to deed the 4.07-acre midden to the town, which would pay $10.5 million for a separate 1.41-acre parcel, a figure corroborated by stet News, which first reported on the agreement in January. Town staff also met with members of local Native tribes to discuss site plans as part of the process, The Real Deal reported.
The acreage attached to the broader Suni Sands property has been described inconsistently across coverage, with figures ranging from about 9.8 to 10.5 acres depending on the outlet and whether a given report includes both parcels. The settlement's preservation and development splits likewise vary slightly by source, underscoring how complicated the land's legal and archaeological history has become.
Earlier, Bigger Plans Fell by the Wayside
Modica's original vision for the site was considerably larger than what's now before the council. Per stet News, his original plans called for a 125-room inn, 72 townhomes and condos, and about 12,000 square feet of restaurants and stores. A separate report from WPTV similarly described initial plans for a hotel, 72 residences and 12,000 square feet of retail space.
Earlier concepts for the site were larger than the plan now headed to the council.
The push to build on one of the last undeveloped waterfront parcels near Jupiter Inlet comes as the surrounding estuary remains ecologically sensitive. The Jupiter Inlet Foundation has noted that submerged land in the area is filled with seagrass that serves as a food source and nursery ground for a variety of rare, endangered and threatened sea creatures, a backdrop that has shadowed development debates along this stretch of coastline for years.
Whether the Sperry project ultimately gets built remains an open question. No construction start date, completion timeline or financing details have been made public, and the project still needs zoning changes and further Town Council approval beyond Thursday's meeting.
