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Preservation group details strategy to rescue Biltmore

A real estate broker said his group can offer $40-million to buy the hotel, renovate its core and add a 25,000-square-foot "world-class" spa.

By LORRI HELFAND
Published June 15, 2005

BELLEAIR - A local preservation group revealed more details Tuesday about its plans to save the Belleview Biltmore Resort & Spa.

Three months ago, Rae Claire Johnson, leader of Friends of the Belleview Biltmore, joined forces with real estate broker Rory Hiller in hopes of staving off demolition of the hotel.

Since then, Hiller has teamed up with John Chapman of Belgium and Brian McLeroth of Hawaii to formulate plans to buy, renovate and operate the resort.

Urdang & Associates, a Pennsylvania-based pension fund manager that makes all management decisions regarding the property, filed a request to raze the hotel on April 21. Earlier that month, DeBartolo Development said it had a contract to buy the hotel.

Hiller's group is wooing Urdang and plans to talk with the company by the beginning of next week, Hiller said.

"If we get it - and we feel very confident we have a chance to do this - it will be one of the most beautiful hotels," Johnson said at a presentation in the hotel's Starlight Ballroom.

Urdang representatives could not be reached for comment this week.

Hiller, who said his group has the clout to make a $40-million offer, thinks the team can pull off the project and have community support as well.

"I think we will prevail," Hiller said.

Hiller's vision involves renovating the core of the hotel as 83 luxury resort units and adding a "world class" 25,000-square-foot spa on the north side of the hotel. It would offer cosmetic surgery among other services, he said.

Hiller, who wants to maintain the resort's current management, said he is negotiating with InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, an international company that touts exceptional service and luxury accommodations.

Early this month, talks of demolishing the north and south wings of the hotel splintered the preservation effort. Hiller said he wants to renovate the north wing because he was advised that doing so could ensure more federal tax credits.

The south wing, which is in poor shape, would be torn down and rebuilt in the style of the original hotel, and both wings would house 262 condo-hotel units, Hiller said.

The original Belleview Biltmore was built in 1895 by Henry Plant. Work on the north wing began in 1910, and the south wing was constructed in 1924.

Hiller plans to preserve the public areas such as the Tiffany, Starlight and Candlelight ballrooms. But the pagoda style lobby would be replaced with a veranda style entrance similar to the hotel's original one.

McLeroth's background is in management. Chapman, who specializes in financing, said his goal is to balance the hotel's historical qualities with the economic needs necessary to sustain it.

"We want to be true to the original building and give people a chance to enjoy the amenities that they'd have at any other modern hotel in the world," said Chapman, who has a home in Brussels.

Johnson said the bottom line is that they're looking for a long-term solution.

"We don't want someone here 50 years or 100 Biltmore years from now wondering how they can save the Belleview Biltmore," she said.

John Hildreth, director of the National Trust for Historic Preservation's Southern office, also spoke about the hotel's recent placement on the nonprofit's list of 11 Most Endangered Historic Places at the luncheon and presentation.

"The list is not a magic bullet," Hildreth said. "Many things that wouldn't happen otherwise can happen when the public spotlight, the glare of media attention and the awareness of the threat are more widely known."

Hiller, a development consultant, has worked with Ohio-based Cedarwood Development on several projects, including the Marriott Suites Clearwater Beach on Sand Key, and with Connecticut-based developer David A. Mack, a partner on the Sandpearl Resort and Belle Harbor projects on Clearwater Beach.

"I've bought a lot of things from him directly," Mack said. "He's a good guy and turns over a lot of stones. And he helps a lot of people in the community."

Last year, Hiller organized a golf tournament that raised $53,000 for Brad Kendell, who lost his legs in a 2003 plane crash that killed his father and a friend.

Lorri Helfand can be reached at 445-4155 or at lorri@sptimes.com

[Last modified June 15, 2005, 00:43:17]