Biltmore spared demolition
Stung by a lack of public support, a development group shelves its idea of razing the 108-year-old hotel to build condos.
By LESTER R. DAILEY
Article published on Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2005  |
BELLEAIR – The landmark Belleview Biltmore Resort & Spa’s date with the wrecking ball has been postponed indefinitely.
Blaming a lack of public support caused by the owners’ penchant for secrecy, the development group, which had previously announced plans to raze the 108-year-old hotel and build condominiums on its grounds, withdrew those plans on Monday.
For the time being, at least, the structure will continue to operate as an upscale 244-room hotel.
“We’re looking forward to an incredible first quarter,” Richard Wilhelm, president of the hotel’s management company, Trust Hotels, said Tuesday. “Bookings are 50 percent ahead of the first quarter of 2004.”
But Wilhelm was less forthcoming when it came to long-term plans for the resort.
“I have no comment about ownership except to say that we’re looking forward to a strong first quarter of 2005,” he said. “I’m glad that we’re in a very good, stabilized situation.”
Belleair officials were also short on information.
“I know little or nothing (of the developers’ plans),” Town Manager Steve Cotrell said Tuesday. “They haven’t been to the town yet, so at this point I’m out of the loop.”
The hotel, originally called the Belleview, was built by railroad magnate Henry Bradley Plant as one of a series of hotels intended to entice tourists to the west coast of Florida. The idea, of course, was that they would use his railroad to get here.
Dubbed the “White Queen of the Gulf,” the 820,000-square-foot Belleview is believed to be the largest inhabited wooden structure in the world. It has hosted presidents, royalty, sports legends and movie stars. During World War II, with its windows painted black for the wartime blackout, it housed soldiers.
After the war, it was restored to its former luxury hotel status, but its revenues began to slide. It was sold to a Japanese ownership group which added a glass pyramid lobby that made purists cringe. Recently, it was acquired by a consortium of Pennsylvania investors headed by Scott Urdang.
In November, a development group comprised of Tampa-based DeBartolo Development and St. Petersburg-based First Dartmouth Homes and Sun Vista Development Group announced that it had a contract to purchase the hotel and its 22-acre grounds, a 136-acre golf course and a beach club on Sand Key. The purchase price wasn’t disclosed, but the combined properties are appraised at $12.5 million for tax purposes.
Without being too specific, the group, called the Belleair Redevelopment Group, floated ideas of razing most of the old hotel and building hundreds of townhomes and condominiums on the property. That brought howls of outrage from historic preservationists, notable among them former Belleair Mayor Connie Mudano. Mudano named several vintage hotels, from the Don CeSar in St. Pete Beach to the Del Coronado in San Diego, Calif., that had been restored to elegance and profitability. But Belleair Mayor George Mariani Jr. doubts that the same can be done with the Belleview.
“The hotel has had a hard time economically for the past several years,” Mariani said shortly after plans to raze the Belleview surfaced. “I think it would be virtually impossible for anyone to (profitably) operate that hotel.”
Frank Maggio, president of First Dartmouth Homes, said the development group is still interested in the Belleview properties, but any future plans must be the result of public discussion.
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Article published on Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2005
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