Developers behind a plan to revitalise the Elbow Beach Hotel property have said their proposal will improve amenities while “right sizing” the tourism site.

The in-principle planning application, submitted by The Loren group, proposes turning the hotel into a luxury site with 76 guest rooms and 22 detached villas that will operate as part of the resort’s rental inventory — with an anticipated opening in 2029 after “extensive reconstruction”.

Recently submitted planning documents state that the vast majority of structures now standing on the hotel property would be demolished as part of the revitalisation project, including the main hotel building.

However, the building at Mickey’s bar and restaurant would be refurbished and reopened, while the western boundary beach wall, some perimeter walls and a house at the northern end of the property would be retained.

The new main hotel building, referred to as the clubhouse, would be a seven-storey building located in the southeast corner of the property with 76 guest rooms and amenities including spa facilities, a ballroom, meeting room, café and a rooftop bar-restaurant.

The documents said: “Approximately half of the rooms have uninterrupted ocean views. The remainder have garden views with oblique ocean view. All rooms have a balcony, with depths varying by unit.”

The documents state that the removal of the old Elbow Beach Hotel building would improve ocean views from Fritholme Gardens and other neighbouring residences, while the new hotel would have a smaller visual presence.

The 22 residences, meanwhile, would be built on the hillside overlooking South Shore with the smallest units closer to the water. Each of the units would be required to be used as part of the hotel’s inventory for at least six months of the year.

The six beach houses, located closest to the water, would be two-bedroom, two-bathroom units with a dedicated parking space in the shared resort parking lot.

To their east, the plans show four larger two-bedroom beach villas, which can be used as two single-bedroom hotel units.

In the middle topographical tier, the property has six larger villas with three to four bedrooms, which can be subdivided into three hotel units and feature dedicated parking spaces adjacent to the unit.

The site would also include three four-bedroom estate homes, two estate homes and one large estate home.

The property’s one-way traffic loop will be replaced with a new two-way driveway along the western side of the site, allowing hotel guests and visitors access to the hotel and clubhouse.

Meanwhile, access to the public portion of Elbow Beach would be “maintained and enhanced”.

The planning documents said: “The publicly accessible beach to the west of the central rock outcropping continues to be accessed via the stairs from the Tribe Road along the western edge of the site.

“At the top of the stairs, public bathrooms and changing rooms, managed by the hotel, together with the food truck offering, will provide a level of public-realm amenity not previously available.”

The planning application said that no new buildings are proposed in woodland reserve areas at the southeast and northwest corners of the site, but it was anticipated that there could be “minor building encroachments” into required setbacks.

The documents said: “Following preliminary visual analysis, the currently mapped woodland reserve areas are observed to be less stable, in ecological terms, than other woodland areas on the site that are not legally mapped.

“As part of the planning review process, the applicant intends to propose to designate as woodland reserve an area of stable woodland larger than the area of encroachment, achieving a net gain in protected woodland on the site.”

The plans also noted a section of open-space reserve in the northwest corner of the property that contains the existing main entrance to the property and the principal site parking lot.

The documents state: “The proposal retains the road as part of the access strategy and looks to locate back-of-house and ancillary support buildings within the footprint of the existing parking lot, together with associated landscape restoration and service infrastructure necessary to support the reconfigured access.”

The documents also highlight an historic protection area near the property’s coastline where it is suspected that the former Centre Bay Fort, also known as the Elbow Bay Battery, may have been located — although no above-ground elements remain.

While the planning documents note that research has indicated the fort could be buried in an area of active dunes, or could have been destroyed in a past construction project, an archaeological survey was commissioned for the property.

The aim of the survey was to determine if the fort or any historical elements could be located, but no remains were found.

The documents added “Should physical remains be identified during subsequent groundworks, works in the affected area will pause to allow the relevant authorities to investigate and appropriate mitigation — recording, retention or relocation — will be agreed in consultation with the relevant authorities ahead of any further works in that area.”

The Elbow Beach Hotel was in operation for 118 years before it closed its doors in early 2020.

The property was purchased by The Loren group last year with the intention of running both it and its redeveloped Pink Beach hotel property as a single hotel with two locations.