Parking in Hacienda renovation plans

The 300-space garage would have 25 residences on top.

By JODE TILLMAN, Times Staff Writer
Published December 14, 2007

NEW PORT RICHEY - Developers hoping to restore the city-owned Hacienda Hotel have added a new element to their plan: A three-story parking garage with 25 residential units on the roof.

Sale of the residences - a mix of townhomes and stacked flats - is intended to help pay for the 300-space garage, which would be off Bank Street, said developer Kirby Glaze.

In addition to the cost of the project, one of the many things that is still undetermined: How much the city should agree to kick in.

This week, city council members, meeting as directors of the Community Redevelopment Agency, endorsed the latest conceptual plan. The agency will consider a final agreement around February.

"You've done a fabulous job," said Mayor Dan Tipton. "And I think you took Sims park very much into consideration."

Since buying the now-vacant 1920s hotel, the city has been trying to get someone to redevelop it. Glaze's Georgia-based Community Development Partners teamed up with Three Oaks Hospitality of Boca Raton to propose a plan last year.

The proposed parking garage is considered an "enhancement" to the core task of refurbishing the hotel and adding a 40-room addition to the east, said Glaze. The old section of the hotel would also have a spa and restaurant.

The residences on top of the garage would be only slightly higher than the Hacienda itself and shorter than the steeple of the nearby First Baptist Church, said Glaze.

The new plan came about in recent months after plans for another development, Landings at Orange Lake, fell apart. Hacienda developers had hoped to team up with their Orange Lake counterparts to build the garage.

"We picked up the ball from the Orange Lake developers," said Glaze. The residential units would be marketed toward "empty nesters" and investors, who could rent them out as hotel rooms, he said.

Jodie Tillman can be reached at jtillman@sptimes.com or (727) 869-6247.

[Last modified December 13, 2007, 22:58:46]