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Floridan renovator acquires nearby properties

By RICK GERSHMAN
Published December 14, 2006

TAMPA - The developer renovating downtown's iconic Floridan Hotel has cleared a hurdle that threatened to crimp the project's style.

Antonios Markopoulos said Wednesday he has purchased the hotel's neighboring N Florida Avenue property - where a high-rise had been planned - along with three-quarters of a neighboring block.

The 19-story Floridan, 905 N Florida Ave., is connected to a small post office, 925 N Florida Ave., in the adjacent half-acre lot. The Miami developer who owned that property, Haim Einhorn, planned to build one of Tampa's tallest buildings there, a 479-foot tower with 250 units called Tampa City Lofts.

But Markopoulos announced Wednesday he has bought the property from Einhorn and will use the extra 20,000 square feet for convention and meeting space. The post office's lease expires July 2007.

At 240 feet, the Floridan was Tampa's tallest building from its 1927 opening to 1966, when the 280-foot Franklin Exchange Building surpassed it.

The Floridan, which is listed in the National Register of Historic Places, last housed guests in 1987. It was boarded up soon after, and its main occupants from then on were birds and other wild creatures.

Several other developers have taken a crack at redeveloping the Floridan before Markopoulos, who purchased the hotel for $6-million in April. He hopes to reopen it in fall 2007.

Rick Gershman can be reached at rgershman@sptimes.com or 813 226-3431.

[Last modified December 14, 2006, 00:40:36]