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Grand hotel, grand plan

People in Belleair cheer a new proposal to restore Belleview Biltmore Resort.

By TERRI BRYCE REEVES and LORRI HELFAND, Times Staff Writers
Published September 21, 2007

This east side perspective shows the entrance to the Belleview Biltmore Resort. The pagoda entrance on the left will be replaced by one more architecturally consistent.
	[DOUGLAS R. CLIFFORD | Times]

ADVERTISEMENT [R.J. Heisenbottle] The owner of the Belleview Biltmore plans to pump about $100-million into the landmark hotel to renovate and restore it. The tentative completion date is 2011. [R.J. Heisenbottle] A new swimming pool, flanked with cabanas, will take the place of the old one on the south side of the property. There will be a new poolside grill and bar. Nearby will be a large event lawn with a wedding gazebo.

Anne Garris gazed at the proposed restoration of the Belleview Biltmore Resort and declared, "Why, it looks just like it used to."

Gone would be the Japanese pagoda lobby, the musty old spa and the soul-deadening parking lot. Coming would be classic Victorian styling, larger rooms and more green space.

The resulting retro look reminded Garris of her days exploring the palatial wooden structure in its heyday in the 1940s.

"It was so beautiful - and huge," she said. "I'm so glad they're keeping it and not tearing it down."

She was one of about 150 or more people who came to the Belleair Town Commission Wednesday night to hear what the resort's new owners have in mind for the 110-year-old resort, one of Pinellas County's most significant historic structures.

They learned the effort would cost $100-million or more, that it would be environmentally friendly and that it probably won't be finished until 2011. That means the resort - though not the golf course - could be closed for up to two years during construction.

But it will be worth the wait, the owner said.

"We're preserving a legacy for future generations," said Joe Penner, managing director for Legg Mason Real Estate Investors of Los Angeles. Legg Mason paid nearly $30.3-million for the landmark in June.

Penner predicted the restored hotel will one day be a five-star resort, "one we can all be proud of."

Richard Heisenbottle, president of Heisenbottle Architects of Coral Gables, said there would be selective demolition "of noncontributing structures." When he announced that the pagoda-style lobby built in the 1990s was on the hit list, the crowd cheered and applauded.

Also to be demolished is the hotel kitchen and the malodorous old spa, he said.

The ballrooms, dining room and pub would receive major renovations. The total number of resort rooms would go from about 244 today to about 435. Some rooms, small by today's standards, would be combined.

One key aspect of the project is parking.

The "asphalt will go away," he said.

Instead, motorists will enter through a rabbit-hole-like entrance where a valet will drive their cars to one of two underground motor courts. A one-story garage with 74 spaces will go under where tennis courts exist today. The other subsurface spaces will be two levels, with 600 parking spots. Those will be built under the current parking lot.

With the surface parking gone, there will be more green space, trees and walking trails, he said.

Heisenbottle described a "grand entrance" with palm and shade trees, fountains and a Victorian-style porte-cochere. The lobby will be a "soaring three stories" and built in traditional Victorian style.

The golf clubhouse will also get a makeover with a new porte-cochere, locker rooms, bathrooms, kitchens, bar and grill room.

Nearby, a 7,000-square-foot banquet room will be built to overlook the lake and fountain.

The golf course will see more trees and landscaping, he said. Since it was renovated about three years ago, Heisenbottle said he didn't anticipate any interruption in tee times during construction.

"The clubhouse might be closed for up to six months, though," he said.

Also proposed is a new five-story hotel annex that will contain 160 rooms. It's slated to go in the location of the original dormitory building that was torn down years ago.

"It will be very similar in style to the original hotel," he said.

A 10,000-square-foot ballroom will be built in the location of the current spa.

A new swimming pool, flanked with cabanas, will take the place of the old one on the south side of the property. There will be a new poolside grill and bar. Nearby will be a large event lawn with a wedding gazebo.

There will be a new tennis area with two courts built atop the underground garage on the east side of the property. The existing courts will be replaced with an 18,000-square-foot, two-story health spa overlooking the Intracoastal Waterway.

The three cottages will be renovated and the new green shingle roof "will be fixed forever," Heisenbottle said.

The Cabana Club, the resort's beach club on Sand Key, will be demolished and in its place will be an eight-story hotel with 57 units, a new pool and a dozen or so cabanas. The second floor may contain a seafood restaurant overlooking the Gulf of Mexico. Plans call for a boat to shuttle guests back and forth across the Intracoastal Waterway.

Heisenbottle's presentation drew plenty of applause.

It was a far cry from previous meetings where residents and preservationists booed another developer's plans to flatten most of the hotel, build 180 condos on the hotel lot and erect more than 350 homes on the golf course.

Ed Jameson, vice president of Save the Biltmore Preservationists, applauded the developer's plans, but worried about closing the hotel for up to two years during renovations.

"Hotels and other vacant property can be more vulnerable to damage from fire, gas, water, electrical, hurricanes and vandalism during renovations," he said. He suggested either the town or Legg Mason provide 24-hour, round-the-clock security for the property.

St. Petersburg preservationist Bill Stokes asked the commission to grant incentives favorable to the developers and write a strong historic preservation ordinance. He also asked them to pass an ordinance to abate some property taxes levied on the resort and urged them not to cap that tax break.

"Please be mindful that this could be the last chance to save a treasure that cannot be replaced," he said.

He received a standing ovation.

One resident asked if the developers intended to preserve the hotel's historic features.

"Of course we're going to keep the old stuff," Heisenbottle said. "That's what preservation is all about."

After the presentation, Belleair Commissioner and local architect Stephen Fowler praised Heisenbottle's presentation and his award-winning firm, which has been praised by the National Trust for Historic Preservation and Florida Trust for Historic Preservation.

Mayor Gary Katica also was pleased.

"I was sitting up here two years ago for the other presentation and I had to take a tranquilizer," he joked.

Terri Bryce Reeves can be reached at treeves@tampabay.rr.com Lorri Helfand can be reached at lorri@sptimes.com or 445-4155.

Fast facts

Belleview Biltmore

1897: Built by railroad baron Henry B. Plant.

1979: Listed on National Register of Historic Places.

June 2007: Sold to Legg Mason Real Estate Investors of Los Angeles for nearly $30.3-million.

2009: When $100-million renovation is expected to start.

2011: Projected completion date.

Size: 820,000 square feet

New features: underground parking, more green space, Victorian-style lobby, larger rooms, new tennis courts and health spa.

[Last modified September 20, 2007, 21:40:03]