Former Tampa courthouse to become Le Méridien hotel and restaurant

When it's completed, the hotel will have 130 guest rooms, and a signature restaurant (converted from a courtroom) that customers can enter from the outside. There will also be outdoor dining on the lawn, a ballroom on the fourth floor, and a secret garden in the rear.

• KOBI KARP
• Renderings from architect Kobi Karp of the future hotel and restaurant at Le Méridien.

A main level gallery will feature the work of local artists, as well as marble and terrazzo floors and 10-foot high ceilings.

"It's a timeless and beautiful piece of architecture that's going to make a great hotel," said DSG developer Gary Prosterman, who said his team has developed 25 hotels in 17 different cities. DSG says they'll be able to it all for $25 million.

The former courthouse, which was once a U.S. Postal office, is considered one of Tampa's finest classic buildings. Until late 2011 it remained moribund with former mayors coming up empty in their attempts to do something with it — other than have it suck up city funds while keeping the air conditioning on to reduce mold.

Mayor Buckhorn said he was determined, long before he was elected mayor two years ago, to resurrect the classic structure.

"I never stopped believing that this could be returned to its glory," he said, adding dramatically that "If you know this building, if you touch the walls of this building, you know that this building is alive and that the spirit of this building will endure forever. The job for us was to go find somebody who believed in the capacity of greatness that resides in this structure."