Well, they finally did it. They killed the Belleview f*cking Biltmore.
At least, that's what you're saying right now if you're one of the people who thinks that a) the decrepit former resort can be fully restored to its former glory, b) it can be done at a reasonable cost (say, under $200 million) and c) said restored resort would be able to attract the same volume and caliber of guests it did when it was the only game in town and not surrounded by condos. Oh, and d) you don't see a middle ground between demolishing the entire thing and leaving it fully intact.
Developer Mike Cheezem, reports the Tampa Bay Times' Keyonna Summers, has finally sealed the deal on his purchase of the former resort well over a year after he first began negotiating with the current owners, South Florida-based Ralph and Daniel Ades.
Last fall the town commission voted to rezone the property in a way that favored redevelopment to the chagrin of preservationists, who have long maintained that the building can be restored and assert that the Ades brothers have let the property fall into disrepair on purpose. The vote came after the Ades brothers cut off South Florida preservationist Richard Heisenbottle's attempts to buy the property, claiming they gave him multiple chances to come up with a down payment but he never did.
Summers reports that Cheezem bought the property for some $6.2 million.
Cheezem, who is the developer behind such projects as the Sandpearl Resort and the Ovation tower in downtown St. Pete, has said he wants to preserve some of the former hotel and make the redeveloped property an homage to what was there before.
This article appears in Apr 2-8, 2015.