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Public Gets A Look At Biltmore Plans

KELVIN MA / The Tampa Tribune

The Belleview Biltmore Hotel was built in 1896.

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By CARLOS MONCADA | The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 19, 2007

Updated: 09/19/2007 10:34 pm

Comment: What Do You Think Of The Plan

Video: A Look At The Plans

BELLEAIR - Residents received their first look Wednesday night at ambitious plans to restore the once-threatened Belleview Biltmore Resort and Spa to its former grandeur, a $100 million project aimed at preserving the 110-year-old landmark and its Victorian charm.

The restoration plan, presented to more than 100 people at a Belleair Town Commission meeting, calls for replacing the pagodalike entrance a former Biltmore owner added in the 1990s and relocating the spa. Also proposed were new ballrooms and banquet facilities, several more restaurants and retail shops.

Underground parking and extensive landscaping will create a parklike setting on the 22-acre property, which also will include a smaller, 160-room hotel that will operate as part of the main hotel, which will have 274 rooms.

The restoration will be environmentally friendly and in keeping with federal preservation standards, said Joseph Penner, managing director for Los Angeles-based Legg Mason Real Estate Investors, which purchased the resort in June for more than $30 million.

"Our goal is really to create something worthy of the legacy that we have and to create something for future generations to enjoy,'' Penner said.

The restoration is expected to take four years to complete. The Biltmore will be closed for 18 to 24 months while the construction is under way. No closing date has been announced.

Local preservationists said they were pleased with the restoration plans.

"I'm very excited that they're going to save this building,'' said Edward Jameson, vice president of the Save the Biltmore Preservationists Inc. "It's rooted in Pinellas County's history and I'm very happy about this renovation that's going to occur.''

The Biltmore had been threatened with demolition since 2004, when Tampa-based DeBartolo Development had an option to buy the resort with the intent of replacing it with condominiums.

Reporter Carlos Moncada can be reached at (727) 451-2333 or cmoncada@tampatrib.com.

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