The proposed El Caribe planned unit development will swallow two more longtime area resorts.

The Best Western Aku Tiki Inn and Perry's Ocean Edge Resort are included in plans for demolition and redevelopment as part of the project, which was reported in Tuesday's issue of The Daytona Beach News-Journal.

Longtime hotelier and developer Tom Staed, whose company owns the Aku Tiki, acknowledged his involvement Tuesday in the project, which calls for 1,068 hotel or condo-hotel units.

Staed said his role was limited to being an investor in the project, which is proposed for 16 acres stretching from 2101 S. Atlantic Ave. to 2225 S. Atlantic Ave.

At some point, the Aku Tiki will come down, but Staed said he expects the development to start at the north end, instead of the south end where his resort is located.

He referred all questions to lead developers George Anderson and Doug Cook. Both men have said the project, which is located in the city's community redevelopment area, is in its infant stages.

They also have refrained from talking too much about it. "It's very premature at this point. I am not going to comment," Cook said Tuesday.

Anderson did note Monday that several old hotels would have to come down, naming the Beach Haven Inn, the Silver Sands, the El Caribe and the Ocean Pointe Inn.

Under the name Century Nationwide, Anderson and Cook have acquired those four properties. Anderson is a co-owner of Perry's while the Staed Family Partnership still owns the Aku Tiki.

The developers have submitted a request for a planned unit development for 16 acres. The city's land development code requires a minimum of 14 acres for a planned unit development, according to planner Stuart Cruz.

"The number of units that they are asking for is a function of the acreage involved," Cruz said Tuesday in a telephone interview.

The other properties are Perry's Cottages, 2139 S. Atlantic Ave. and Perry's Ocean Edge, 2209 S. Atlantic Ave. Perry's has been in business for 65 years.
Anderson bought into Perry's Inc. of Daytona in 2005 for $8.2 million. "It was really a merger with the owners," he said at the time.

Jim Bazemore, president of the 200-room Perry's, could not be reached Tuesday for comment.

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