BELLEAIR – Martin Smith, vice president and managing director of the Belleview Biltmore, will be leaving the company July 24.
He was notified of his dismissal by Joseph Penner, fund manager for Latitude Management Real Estate Investors, owners of the Belleview Biltmore. The ownership group was previously known as Legg Mason Real Estate Investors.
“This is financial, not personal,” said Smith in a phone interview. “What’s there for me to do?”
Smith said pending legal issues regarding the hotel and its Cabana Club on Sand Key will delay start of demolition and restoration of the entire Biltmore project for the foreseeable future. Nothing will move forward until all legal issues are resolved, he said.
Smith, however, has already found something else to do.
In a phone conversation June 3, Smith revealed that he has submitted a contract to George Rahdert, owner of the Fenway Hotel in Dunedin, to have Smith’s company, Integrity Hotel Group, manage the Fenway. It’s a five-year contract, Smith said, which would take effect as soon as the Fenway’s renovation plans receive all final approvals, which is expected in early August.
After extensive renovation, Smith said plans are to open the Fenway in late 2010.
Smith, who has been with the Belleview Biltmore for five years, insists he is not bitter and does not intend to burn any bridges while parting ways.
“My love for the hotel is still the same today, probably a little stronger,” he said. “I’m sad and happy. Lawsuits, delays and the economy all became the perfect storm.”
Among the dozens of Biltmore employees also left jobless is Sharon Delahanty, who has been the executive assistant and historian at the hotel for more than a decade. Smith said Delahanty will be leaving in one month. In the meantime, Delahanty will, among other things, pack up the hotel’s historical museum.
