Key Club owners buy Helmsley Sandcastle

Ocean Properties Ltd. announced Tuesday that it’s the new owner of the former Helmsley Sandcastle Hotel on Lido Beach. The purchase price was $27.4 million, or $155,000 per unit, according to property records.

The Delray Beach-based company also announced a new name for the hotel, the Sandcastle Resort at Lido Beach.

Located at 1540 Benjamin Franklin Drive, the hotel has 177 units and was built in 1953.

It’s best known as the hotel that real estate mogul Leona Helmsley bequeathed to her Maltese dog, Trouble, when she died in 2007. The dog died in 2011, at the Sandcastle, which reverted the hotel’s ownership to the Helmsley Charitable Trust.

Commercial brokerage firm CBRE listed the hotel in late 2013 and emphasized the property’s potential for multifamily development, stating that its zoning allows for 108 residences and that Lido Beach condos are priced as high as $900 per square foot.

But, in a news release, Ocean Properties stated that the beachfront property “will continue to offer the casual and relaxing beach vacations, corporate retreats and beachside social events and weddings the resort is renowned for.”

“...This purchase reflects the long-term commitment of ownership to the local community and the substantial investment that will continue to support economic development in the region...,” said Andy Berger, vice president of Ocean Properties, in a news release.

Ocean Properties owns more than 100 hotels, including the Resort at Longboat Key Club, Longboat Key Hilton Beachfront Resort, Lido Beach Resort and Holiday Inn Lido Beach.

Contact Robin Hartill at [email protected]