Lynda Culhane-Merritt along with her husband, Kevin Merritt, and his family purchased the Serenata Beach Club in South Ponte Vedra Beach along A1A with plans to create a new private club on the property.
St. Johns County property records show that the group paid just over $1.5 million in September for the existing restaurant and club facilities.
The group renamed the private club the South Ponte Vedra Ocean Club. Lynda’s at the Ocean Club restaurant will open Feb. 12.
“There’s been a complete remodel of everything and anything and it’s being opened up as a new enterprise,” Merritt said.
“We have half a Lago is what I tell people. Donald Trump has Mar-a-Lago, which is, I believe 60,000 square feet on the ocean on 15 acres. We only have 30,000 square feet on 7 acres on the ocean, so we’re half a Lago.”
While the restaurant is named after Culhane-Merritt, she has the role of owner, not operator. She remains involved with the daily operation of the Culhane’s Irish Pubs in Atlantic Beach and South Jacksonville and the Culhane’s vodka and wine brands.
Merritt is the owner and operator of Lynda’s at the Ocean Club. He hired Club Director Kimberly Patterson and executive chef Michael Richardson, a graduate of Le Cordon Bleu in Las Vegas.
The restaurant is at 3175 South Ponte Vedra Blvd., which also is Florida A1A.
Merritt said there would be a members-only opening Feb. 6 and an invitation-only dinner a few days later. The restaurant will then be open to the public.
The restaurant will seat 300 with dining facing the ocean.
It will serve seafood and steaks. It will feature a seafood tower, stuffed lobster, whole fish and cioppino seafood pasta.
Prime rib will come in three sizes and there will be three choices of dry-aged steaks, as well as a tomahawk steak, pork tenderloin and honey truffle half brick chicken.
The reservation website OpenTable lists it as casual dining with prices ranging from $31 to $50. It has a full bar and valet service.
Hours are 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday-Thursday; 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday; and 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday.
Though the restaurant is open to the public, the beach club remains private. Upon taking over the facility, Merritt invited former Serenata members to join the new club and about 275 agreed to join the South Ponte Vedra Ocean Club, Merritt said.
The owners plan to limit the club to 850 memberships.
“Only 850 members is the most that we will allow to keep it exclusive, to keep it private so people can enjoy the property,” Merritt said.
The club is not yet open. However, memberships are available. The initial cost through March 1 is $15,000 plus tax; after March 1 the cost will be $17,500 with tax. Patterson estimated annual dues of about $4,800.
Patterson worked for Ponte Vedra Beach-based Gate Hospitality Group in membership at The River Club and Epping Forest Yacht & Country Club.
She wants to deliver a Five Diamond-like experience to the club’s members and guests.
“That’s just the level of service that I expect from my team and myself. It starts with myself and works all the way down to all of the staff. We want to be able to give them the best of the best,” she said.
Membership includes a fitness center, family and adult pools, and private beach access with chairs, umbrellas and oceanside beverage and food service, according to Patterson.
Emphasizing that this is a new club, she said a new fitness center will be constructed when membership levels make it feasible.
Lynda’s at the Ocean Club will serve as a recruiting tool for the private club.
“They’re going to be sitting out back and enjoying the beautiful ocean. And then they’re going to be want to go down to the beach, but they won’t be able to,” she said of the members-only beach access.
“We will keep the public and the private club side separate. They’re going to ask, ‘How do we become a member?’ And I think that they’re going to want to have that exclusivity of being able to call that their home.”
St. Johns County property records show that the Merritts bought Serenata Beach Club for $1.5 million on Sept. 24, 2024.
The ownership is shared by multiple entities, led by North American Trading Group Inc. with 35.8%. That company is operated by Kevin Merritt and Ryan S. Merritt.
Other partners are siblings and include the Ryan S. Merritt Irrevocable Trust; 15.3%; Kristen S. Merritt Irrevocable Trust; 15.3%; and Matthew Merritt Irrevocable Trust. Lynda Culhane-Merritt has 3% ownership as her sole and separate property, which is operated by North American Trading Group Inc. through SBARC LLC.
The club was last owned by Molly and Jeffrey Butler.
The club was built and opened in 2001 by Fletcher Land Corp. Fletcher developed the Sawgrass community in Ponte Vedra and sold more than 400 acres to the PGA Tour for $1 to build TPC Sawgrass.
The Ocean Club and Lynda’s sits between the North and South Serenata Beach Ocean Villas condominiums on the east side of A1A. To the west is Ocean Grande At Serenata Beach with about 200 condominiums.
The private Serenata Beach Club closed in January 2024. It was reported that staff had not been paid for weeks before to the closing.
In February, it reopened. Upon reopening, members saw fees for items that were once included in membership and a $250 monthly minimum had to be spent at the club.
In July courts ruled in favor of two mortgage lenders who were owed a combined $14 million.
In September the club was sold through a foreclosure auction to repay debtors.
Reports from Daily Record news partner News4Jax contributed to this article.