The south side of the Biltmore will feature a new swimming pool and cabanas.
BELLEAIR – To anyone attending the presentation of the Belleview Biltmore restoration plans by Legg Mason Real Estate Investors on Sept. 19, it was evident that this was a plan the town could love.
Armed with richly illustrated renderings and detailed plan views, some of which project architect Richard Heisenbottle admitted were still works in progress just the evening before, the team headed by LMREI CEO Joseph Penner, treated a standing room only crowd to their first look at the group’s vision for the historic resort.
Heisenbottle told the audience, “We do a lot of restoration projects and we do them at the highest level. If it’s a tough project, a difficult project then that’s the kind of project we choose.”
Virginia Donahue, who lives just two doors from the Biltmore Golf Club said, “This was a very professional presentation. It’s going to be beautiful, it was the best town meeting I’ve ever been to.”
Donahue who occasionally played piano during Sunday brunch at the club was excited that it was among the featured elements of the resort, which were to be restored.
“I talked to Chuck Eade, the manager of the golf club and he told me, ‘I’ll be sure to get the piano back,’” Donahue said.
The restoration project, which will require closing the resort in mid 2009 and should be complete in 2011, will cost an estimated $100 million according to Penner, who told the audience the plan is to restore the Biltmore to its former glory reminiscent of the 1940s era.
Among the many new features touted by the architect: a 10,000-square-foot ballroom, larger rooms – some with cathedral ceilings – tucked below the famous gabled green roof and the addition of retail shops including a bakery, ice cream shop and high end jeweler. A new spa will rise over underground parking where the current tennis courts are situated.
Heisenbottle displayed a rendering of a new grand entrance boulevard lined with Queen Palm, which will lead motorists to a roundabout and beyond to the hotel’s new main entrance; the current pagoda of glass with its vaulted roof line will be replaced with a new entrance more in keeping with the Biltmore’s traditional green roof style.
“There will be event lawns everywhere,” said Heisenbottle, “for weddings and picnics or just for couples to stroll in.”
The crowd applauded wildly when the architect confirmed that the resort’s green space was a special interest for the designer team.
Mayor Gary Katica said of the meeting, “Just listening to the response of the people and their intermittent applause and the cheers was the highlight of the evening. The only downside if any is that the hotel will be closed while construction takes place.”
Katica said the closure was understandable.
“A project of this magnitude can’t be accomplished overnight,” he said.
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