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Hotel's new suitors like Victorian look

Not only is a backup contract supported by a preservation group being prepared, but a second group is trying to line up matches for the Biltmore.

By LORRI HELFAND
Published August 4, 2005

BELLEAIR - Rory Hiller, a real estate developer backed by a local preservation group, announced Wednesday that his attorneys are completing a backup contract to purchase the Belleview Biltmore Resort & Spa.

Hiller, who was recruited by Friends of the Biltmore supporter Rae Claire Johnson, said his team has been talking with Urdang & Associates, a Pennsylvania pension fund manager that makes all management decisions regarding the property.

"We're proceeding to the next level," Hiller said. "My group has deposited necessary funds to close at a Manhattan bank."

Hiller said his group is prepared to spend about $40-million to purchase the hotel.

DeBartolo Development, which said in April it had contracted with Urdang to buy the Biltmore, has not commented on its plans since. Urdang filed plans to tear down the landmark hotel, and a cover letter from DeBartolo accompanied demolition plans submitted later by Urdang. But Tuesday, Johnson told town leaders that DeBartolo is still in the picture. "DeBartolo still has a contract and until that goes away, nothing can be done," she said.

She told the commission that her team is waiting for DeBartolo Development to step aside so it can make a formal presentation to the town.

Neither DeBartolo Development nor Urdang & Associates returned calls Wednesday about the Biltmore.

Hiller originally thought his team might have to raze two wings of the hotel, but now he said he will be able to preserve the entire structure.

"The architects and the structural engineers have informed us that the structure is sound and does not have to be torn down," he said.

Hiller plans to convert rooms in the core of the hotel into 83 high-end resort units and rooms in the north-south wing into 425 condo-hotel units, which would be sold to individual owners and rented for part of the year as hotel rooms.

Hiller has worked as a development consultant on several projects, including the Marriott Suites Clearwater Beach on Sand Key and the Sandpearl Resort and Belle Harbor projects on Clearwater Beach.

His partners in the Biltmore project are John Chapman of Belgium and Brian McLeroth of Hawaii.

Meanwhile, another preservation group, which broke away from Johnson's Friends of the Belleview Biltmore in early June, said it has two groups interested in the hotel: an investment trust fund and a real estate company with a hotel and resort division.

Diane Hein, who heads Save the Biltmore Preservationists Inc., said she was unable to reveal the name of the trust fund.

"They're interested in purchasing the Biltmore and restoring it to its Victorian glory," she said.

A copy of a letter faxed to Town Hall by her group reveals that the hotel company interested in the Biltmore is Marcus Hotels & Resorts, a publicly traded real estate company in Milwaukee.

J. David Merritt, senior vice president of development for Marcus Hotels & Resorts, wrote to Scott Urdang, president of Urdang & Associates, on July 29. In the letter, Merritt says he received a voice message from Urdang and would like to discuss the project further if the proposed buyer is "unable to perform."

He also inquired about "deal related issues" and the possibility of touring the property in the future.

"It is the desire of our hotel and resort division as well as our Board of Directors to acquire additional historically significant hotels and destination resorts around the country. The Belleview Biltmore achieves those objectives ideally," Merritt wrote.

Merritt could not be reached for additional comment.

Hein said her group is pursuing its own deals because it doesn't approve of Hiller's plans.

She said Save the Biltmore was concerned about an article in a Sarasota paper, which reported that Hiller wanted to gut the north and south wings.

"There's a lot of people that have misconceptions. They all speculate. Nobody ever calls me," Hiller said. "It's not our intention to tear it down."

Hiller said he plans to enlarge the rooms and decorate them in a style that fits the hotel's original Victorian charm. His team also plans to replace the wiring and plumbing and install central air conditioning, new carpeting and new windows.

Hein emphatically said she would never back a proposal that included condo-hotel units.

"I'm against condo-hotel units because we want to save it as a true hotel," Hein said.

Hiller said having condo-hotel units is the only practical way to get a return on a hefty investment. Because it would cost at least $100-million to purchase and renovate the Biltmore, he said, buyers would be left with two poor options if they insist on running it only as a hotel: They can leave it as is and no one will stay there because it needs renovations, or they can pay to renovate it and charge more than $1,000 a night.

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

[Last modified August 4, 2005, 01:05:20]