Belleview Biltmore Buyers Vow $100 Million Facelift

By CARLOS MONCADA The Tampa Tribune

Published: Sep 20, 2007

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.

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

Underground parking and extensive landscaping will create a parklike setting on the 22-acre property. It will include a 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 of Legg Mason Real Estate Investors of Los Angeles, which bought the resort in June for more than $30 million.

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