Sarasota rules Plaza project is a hotel

By Doug Sword

SARASOTA - The Plaza Hotel is a hotel, after all, according to a new ruling by a city planning director.

Plans for the Plaza Hotel features a restaurant and two rooftop pools. The hotel is one of several planned for downtown.

An earlier review had denied developer Al Hochstadt’s plans for a 173-room hotel, finding the five-story structure between Orange and Palm avenues would be more time-share than hotel.

But in a July 15 letter Hochstadt amended those plans, committing to make just over half the rooms available for daily or weekly rentals. That makes Plaza Hotel primarily a hotel, according to a ruling by Timothy Litchet, director of the city’s neighborhood and development services, dated Wednesday.

The deadline to appeal Litchet’s ruling is Aug. 7.

Hochstadt’s plans drew criticisms from neighbors, including Lottie Varano who had successfully challenged the idea that the project is a hotel, since it was to involve sale of units under fractional ownership similar to a time share.

In May, Hochstadt filed suit against Varano, alleging he was spreading misinformation about the project, creating delays and costing the developer’s business money. Varano claims the lawsuit was aimed at intimidating him.

Neither Hochstadt nor Varano could be reached for comment Friday.

Hochstadt’s altered plans defined the project in terms of time: 173 rooms split into 9,020 weeks each year. He committed to making guest rooms totalling 4,520 weeks each year available for daily or weekly rental, while the remaining 4,500 weeks could be sold.

The new ruling sets the project on two paths. Hochstadt had appealed the city’s finding that his earlier project was not a hotel. That appeal could ultimately go to court and if Hochstadt wins he could be allowed to build as earlier planned, City Attorney Robert Fournier wrote in a memo to Litchet. If that happens Hochstadt would be in a position of picking which of the two approved options he wanted to build.