Bucking the Trend

Five months after signaling that it planned to raze and revamp its Sandcastle Resort at Lido Beach property, Ocean Properties Hotels Resorts & Affiliates has further refined its proposal for the Sarasota hotel.

As part of a roughly $100 million upgrade, the Delray Beach-based company plans to demolish the existing 176-room hotel, which opened in 1953, and replace it with a pair of sleek towers rising nine and 10 stories.

The new Sandcastle Resort also would feature 128 new rooms -- each having an unobstructed view of the Gulf of Mexico -- together with roughly 20,000 square feet of meeting, event and restaurant space, according to plans submitted late last month to Sarasota officials. Entryways and exits also would be streamlined, according to a site plan filed late last month.