The Ponte Vedra Inn & Club Rebuild Has Moved From Concrete to Paperwork

When will the new Surf Club at the Ponte Vedra Inn & Club open? The resort's answer is the same as it was almost two years ago. Its renovation page gives "Early 2027" as the estimated completion date and does not name an opening day. The Jacksonville Daily Record reported that same estimate in November 2024, before the old Surf Club had even closed.

The oceanfront structure topped out in March. Since late spring, the activity on Ponte Vedra Boulevard has shown up in St. Johns County's records: a construction-plan revision, a close-out survey and, in September, a restaurant license filing. Building the frame was the loud part of the work. What remains is paperwork, and that's the stage that comes before a building opens.

The Date That Hasn't Moved

The schedule has been loose from the start. In May 2023, the Ponte Vedra Recorder reported that Surf Club work was planned to begin after the 2024 PLAYERS Championship. A project representative estimated it would take about two years, without giving a calendar finish date.

The St. Johns County Commission approved the rezoning behind the project 4 to 1 on November 7, 2023, after public testimony, according to Jacksonville Today. The old Surf Club closed December 1, 2024. At that point, the Daily Record reported, demolition and site clearing were already underway at the Sports Club site across the boulevard, and demolition of the old Surf Club was expected by late December.

From then on the resort used one phrase for the finish: early 2027. That phrase held through the permits, the demolition and the topping out. The rest of this post tracks what changed while it stayed the same.

Two Buildings, Two Addresses

People often call this the Surf Club project, but it is two buildings on opposite sides of Ponte Vedra Boulevard, permitted four months apart. Brasfield & Gorrie is the contractor and England-Thims & Miller of Jacksonville is the civil engineer on both. Cooper Carry is the master planner and architect for the resort plan.

Combined, that is about $109 million in permitted work and roughly 200,000 square feet. For scale, county property records put the Inn's existing square footage, not counting hotel rooms, at 130,433 square feet, according to the Daily Record. The two new buildings together are larger than everything the Inn had before, apart from its guest rooms.

The Sports Club's retail space will not be leased to outside parties, a resort spokesperson told the Daily Record.

What Topped Out in March

On March 5, 2026, Brasfield & Gorrie announced that the new Surf Club had topped out. The contractor poured the concrete with its own crews and put the scope in numbers:

• 80,000 man-hours worked
• 6,600 cubic yards of concrete placed
• 478 tons of rebar installed

Instead of the usual beam signing, the crew signed a concrete wall to mark its work, which ran from tearing down the old Surf Club to building the new structure from the ground up. The announcement describes the new building as having pools, restaurants, meeting spaces and guest rooms.

For anyone driving past, March was the last big visible milestone. Once a building tops out, most of the remaining work happens inside it, and the public signs of progress move to the county's records.

The Paper Trail Since Spring

Three St. Johns County records filed between late May and early September give the clearest picture of where the project stands this fall.

1. A revised Phase 1 construction plan. The county issued a modification to the Inn & Club's Phase 1 construction plans on May 26, 2026, and approved it June 5. It revises layout, grading, the storm network, utilities and the labels for a maintenance building and a guard station.
2. A Phase 1-1 as-built survey. This record is described as "Closing out phase 1-1," lists Ponte Vedra Corporation as owner, was issued June 26 and was completed August 18, 2026. An as-built survey documents what was actually built, so it comes at the end of a phase.
3. A restaurant license record. On September 3, 2026, an occupational license record was created under a project name that, as the county typed it, reads "Ponte Vedra Inn & CLub, Pove Vedre Sports Club/Sandpiper Cafe," with the project description "Restaurant." It shows a completion date of September 4.

The third record is the most telling. The Sandpiper is already part of resort life as the to-go outlet that has operated during construction. The September record links that name to the new Sports Club under a restaurant description. It is a licensing record, though, not an opening announcement. The resort has not published an opening date for the café or for either building, and no new restaurant or bar concepts for the Surf Club have been announced.

From the outside, then, the Sports Club looks like the side moving into its operating stage this fall. That is also the side the resort's spokesperson told the Daily Record in 2024 was part of phase one.

The Interim Layout Has Carried Two Summers

The old Surf Club closed December 1, 2024, so the temporary setup has now run through the summers of 2025 and 2026. Here is how the resort lays out daily use while the new buildings are finished:

• Beach days. Beach access runs through the Interim Surf Club in the Atlantic House, the building directly south of the old Surf Club. It has beach rentals, restrooms, showers, a Kids Camp room, a large outdoor deck, grab-and-go food and retail.
• Workouts. The Interim Gym is across the street from the Interim Surf Club and offers fitness classes, equipment and a nursery.
• Tennis. Play has moved to The Racquet Club, about three miles from the property, which has 12 Har-Tru Hydro courts.
• Pools. The recreational pools at the Inn are closed during construction. Inn guests can use the family pool and beach access at The Lodge & Club, and the resort offers guests transportation to and from the Lodge.
• Dining. The Inn Dining Room serves breakfast and dinner. The Golf Club Dining Room is open seven days a week for lunch and dinner. The Tavern has extended hours and a longer menu. The Sandpiper serves to-go fare, a snack bar operates at the Interim Surf Club, and The Bar at The Driftwood House, next to the Interim Surf Club, serves craft cocktails.

The setup was planned around the construction schedule, and it remains in place this October. The resort has not announced any change to member or guest access since it began.

Phase One of a Thirty-Year Plan

Both new buildings fall under a planned unit development that covers about 90.5 acres across the Inn and Lodge properties, according to the county staff report. The Daily Record reported that the plan is expected to unfold in six phases over 30 years.

Under the PUD, the oceanfront Inn can grow to as many as 349 rooms and 595,000 square feet of restaurant, bar and indoor recreation space. The Lodge & Club, on the west side of Ponte Vedra Boulevard, can grow to as many as 86 rooms and 70,000 square feet of the same kinds of space. The two resorts had 328 rooms combined, according to the PUD application.

Those are maximums, not schedules. The 2026 county records described above concern Inn & Club Phase 1, and the resort has not published a timeline for Lodge & Club construction. Gate Petroleum Co. owns the Inn through Ponte Vedra Corp. When the Surf Club and Sports Club open, the first of the six phases will be complete. The rest of the plan stays on the books as permitted potential along the same stretch of boulevard.

Until the resort announces an opening, beach access at the Inn runs through the Atlantic House.

At The Morrow Group, we keep track of projects like the Inn & Club rebuild because they shape daily life along Ponte Vedra Boulevard and how buyers see the homes nearby. If you live in Old Ponte Vedra and want to know how the 2027 openings could affect your home's position in the market, we'd be glad to walk you through it. Request a Complimentary Home Valuation, and we'll give you a clear, local read on your property.