TAMPA | Ritz-Carlton | Two 19 story towers | 220 feet | 269 hotel units | 176 condos | DEAD

[smiley]

I was flipping channels (today) and saw a bit of the city council. DIngfelder made a reference to a Ritz-Carlton (he also said they had the Ikea before them) - I think maybe in West Shore or Rocky Pointe (but he did not say) . . . anybody see any thing or know anything?

I would be happy with a Ritz but I would like it somehwere that would have some effect on the area around it. . .

[kentski]

You got to it first, Smiley, because I heard the same thing flipping through.

From what I saw, its definitely a new project (taking the Radisson's place on Rocky Point) and a rendering I haven't seen before, and a big project (hotel, condos, residences, and docks). Didn't hear "Ritz Carlton" until Dingelfelder made the comment "first an Ikea on one end, and now a Ritz Carlton on the other ... what a Council meeting" (or something to that effect).

I know all of the Council members were excited about it (as they were the Ikea, and the community really came out in support of Ikea as well).

Ritz Cartlon? Pretty damn exciting ... guess we'll find out in the morning.

[smiley]

Well, I have to say Rocky Point is the least favorite logical location (ok, 22nd St and Hillsborough Ave is less of an ideal location but still) than I would have liked.

[Jasonhouse]

Wow... Hadn't heard anything about this until now...

[jonknee]

Florida already has more RCs than anywhere else, so it's plausible. This would be big. But as already said, too bad it has to be stuck by the airport.

[tampamobster21]

I think that it should be in Downtown or Channelside. I think it would benefit more from these two areas. Not to mention it would be another notch on the bedpost for downtown. I do not see the point in sticking it way out there.

[FloridaFuture]

Well if it replacing the Radisson it's likely the Ritz had water views/front in mind when picking its location. I also think it should be in a more urban area where Downtown and the Hotel could both benefit from each other.

If Rocky Point had maybe a Grocery Store and of some sort it would be a very cool place to live.

[smiley]

odd but neither paper mentioned either the Ritz or the IKEA. Well, not that od given the the quality of the Trib and the fact the projects would be in Tampa and the Times hates tampa

[FloridaFuture]

Originally Posted by smiley

odd but neither paper mentioned either the Ritz or the IKEA. Well, not that od given the the quality of the Trib and the fact the projects would be in Tampa and the Times hates tampa

True, I'm thinking that the Business Journal will have something on it today, hopefully.

[Jasonhouse]

I'm sure they will.

[smiley]

Nope. I may try to contact the Trib to see if they will run something

[Jasonhouse]

Perhaps there isn't as much to this as people think? This seems wierd to me.

[jonknee]

Well Ikea itself would be big news... One would think.

[FloridaFuture]

Here we go finally, only 2 days after the freaking meeting, and still nothing on IKEA.

Courtney Campbell Soon May Be Puttin' On The Ritz
Skip directly to the full story.
By ELLEN GEDALIUS The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 26, 2007


TAMPA - Plans are under way to bring a Ritz-Carlton hotel to the shores beside the Courtney Campbell Parkway.

Developers hope it becomes the area's first five-star hotel.

Clearwater-based developers Orion Communities and RPS LLC are in the final stages of negotiations with the hotel chain, said Sandip Patel, president and chief executive of the development companies.

He hopes to reach an agreement within the next two months, break ground on the 6-acre parcel in early 2008 and open in October 2010.

"It's just going to be the showpiece for the city," Patel said

A Ritz-Carlton official would not discuss the deal other than to say no contract had been signed.

If the plans go through, the Radisson Bay Harbor hotel will be torn down to make room for the new development, said John Grandoff, an attorney for the developer.

Plans call for two 220-foot towers on the Courtney Campbell at Rocky Point Drive. One tower will have 274 hotel rooms and 48 residential units.

The second tower will have 136 condo units.

"Some people want to live at the Ritz," Grandoff said.

The hotel will include a restaurant and boutique retail shops, such as a jewelry and clothing stores. It also will feature boat docks, but those will be accessible only to condominium dwellers.

Building the dock requires approval from the Tampa Port Authority.

The hotel will be close to Rocky Point's bars and restaurants. Several other hotel and condo projects are in the area as well.

The development team debuted plans at a city council meeting Thursday night; those plans were well-received, Councilman John Dingfelder said.

"Between Ikea and Ritz-Carlton, it was definitely a good evening for Tampa and putting Tampa back on the map," Dingfelder said Friday.

Mark Huey, the city's economic development administrator, said he had been trying for years to bring a Ritz-Carlton to Tampa.

"This is the closest a Ritz-Carlton deal has come," Huey said. "Of all the five-star hotels, they have the strongest brand identity. That's something our community has lacked."

Huey said he hopes having a five-star hotel in Tampa will help the city land more national conventions and other large events.

The city council is expected to give preliminary approval to the project June 14.

Researcher Catherine Hammer contributed to this story. Reporter Ellen Gedalius can be reached at egedalius@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-7679.

http://www.tbo.com/news/money/MGB5NPHD52F.html

[Jasonhouse]

Originally Posted by FloridaFuture

Courtney Campbell Soon May Be Puttin' On The Ritz
Skip directly to the full story.
By ELLEN GEDALIUS The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 26, 2007


Plans call for two 220-foot towers on the Courtney Campbell at Rocky Point Drive. One tower will have 274 hotel rooms and 48 residential units.

The second tower will have 136 condo units.

Looks like each tower lost a floor or two. Or, the unit mix was changed...

Regardless, the proposed towers are still tall enough to be the new tallest in Westshore.

[FloridaFuture]

Tampa may get Ritz glitz by 2011
A ritzy risk is how some observers see plans for a luxurious Ritz-Carlton hotel and condos near the Tampa airport.
By Steve Huettel
Published February 10, 2008


An artist's rendering of the planned Ritz-Carlton project in Tampa.

About the Ritz: What the new hotel and ajoining condo tower would offer:

-Hotel rooms: 269
-Average daily rate: low $300s
-Condo units: 176
-Average condo price: $2.2-million ($784 per square foot)
-Hotel amenities: Spa and wellness center; private club lounge; beach club; marina.
-Project cost: $425-million.

Nowhere near home was special enough for the beachfront wedding of Scott Farrell and bride Sam Nagle.

He wrote off the Don CeSar Beach Resort, the pricey Pink Palace in St. Pete Beach. "The beach is so crowded," said Farrell, a Tampa lawyer. "You don't want some kid whizzing a Nerf Ball by your head."

So, on a warm May day in 2005 the couple arrived at the Ritz-Carlton Members Beach Club near Sarasota, checked their shoes with an attendant and tied the knot before 150 guests with the Gulf of Mexico as a backdrop. The tab for the wedding, reception and three bands - around $50,000 - "was well worth it," Farrell said.

Tampa Bay residents looking for a true luxury hotel must drive at least to Orlando or Sarasota. But the white-glove treatment could come to Tampa by 2011. A group including Clearwater developer Sandip Patel plans to build a 269-room Ritz-Carlton Hotel just west of Tampa International Airport, introducing the pampering service and eye-popping bills synonymous with the top-shelf brand. The $425-million project has 176 condos with an average price of $2.2-million, among the most expensive new units sold in the Tampa Bay area.

Ritz-Carlton executives had passed up other proposals, skeptical the market was ready for daily room rates north of $300. But they insist a Ritz-Carlton on Rocky Point, with sweeping views of Tampa Bay and a central location to the region, is a sure winner.

"This is a trifecta - a home run location, a home run design, a home run amount of space," says Ed Staros, managing director of two Ritz-Carlton resorts in Naples, who scouted the site as part of an evaluation team.

Hotel and real estate veterans are holding their bets.

Financing for the project, to be owned by Patel's partnership and managed by Ritz-Carlton, hinges on advance sales of half of the condos. That's a dicey proposition in a market unlikely to recover by the end of the year, if then. Developers of the upscale Grand Bohemian Hotel & Residences, which has yet to break ground in St. Petersburg, went from planning 82 condos above the hotel to 22 when so few buyers stepped up.

Rocky Point also poses problems, says Lou Plasencia, a hotel broker in Tampa. Boulders cover the waterfront of the Radisson Bay Harbor Hotel, which Patel's group will demolish to make room for the 19-story hotel and condo towers.

Guests won't have a wide, natural beach or private golf course, standard fare at all but one of the brand's other Florida locations. "Why go to a Ritz-Carlton in Tampa that's not on the Gulf of Mexico or the Atlantic when you can go to South Beach or Naples?"Plasencia asks.

Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio put a luxury hotel for the city on her to-do list, lobbying lodging executives and discussing locations. Landing a Ritz-Carlton gives communities a shot of civic pride.

It also helps attract high-profile events. Republican Party officials counted the lack of a "five-star hotel" as a strike against Tampa's bid for the national convention this year, says Mark Huey, Iorio's economic development administrator. "We're cautiously optimistic Sandip and his team can make this happen," he said.

Sandip Patel is a former general counsel at Tampa's Wellcare Health Plans but is not related to Wellcare founder and area philanthropist Kiran Patel.

The hotel will feature resort-style amenities: a large spa and wellness center, signature fine-dining restaurant and marina. But Ritz-Carlton classifies it a "city hotel" targeting business travelers and corporate meetings.

"It will lend itself to a lot of business Tampa hasn't seen before," says Richard Pearson, a partner from South Florida whose experience includes projects at Indian casino resorts.

Staros urged the developers not to skimp on the event space. Their plans call for 30,000 square feet that will include a corporate board room, various-sized meeting rooms and a ballroom that can seat 800 for dinner.

The location is a huge plus, says Staros - close to the airport, West Shore businesses and high-income zip codes in Pinellas and Hillsborough. He expects the convention and meeting crowd will start arriving Sunday night and fill the hotel through Thursday afternoon. Then, the hotel will shift gears for weekend weddings, anniversary parties and charitable events.

"In all of Tampa, all of St. Petersburg, all of Clearwater, there's a tremendous amount of wealth," Staros says. "This will be the country club, the social center of these communities."

Ezzat Coutry, a senior vice president for Ritz-Carlton, scouted downtown Tampa three years ago and wasn't convinced a hotel there could fetch enough high-end visitors.

Hotels like the Renaissance at International Plaza and Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay near the airport average nearly $200 a day. Ritz-Carltons typically get a $100 premium over such upper-upscale competitors, said Coutry, who oversees new projects in the Southeast and the Caribbean.

The brand's 66 hotels had an average daily rate of $328 for the first eight months of 2007, reported parent Marriott International. Plasencia, the hotel broker, doubts that enough visitors will pay that much or that the condos will move anytime soon. "I'm surprised Ritz pushed a project this early," he said.

Priced at $2-million to $3-million - or $784 per square foot - the condos will be among the Tampa Bay area's priciest. Only the Sandpearl Resort on Clearwater Beach sold new units in that price range, said Marvin Rose of the Rose Residential Report, a real estate market tracking service.

"Typically, condos with the Ritz name increase the value 25 to 50 percent in pricing," said Pearson, the partner from Fort Lauderdale. "In this case, it will be a touch over a 30 percent premium."

Steve Huettel can be reached at huettel@sptimes.com or (813) 226-3384.

[Last modified February 8, 2008, 12:47:34]

http://www.sptimes.com/2008/02/10/Bu..._Ritz_gl.shtml

[pimpis]

Interesting, anybody know anything about the sales center opening? or anything about the condo sales yet?

[FloridaFuture]

I tell you if they work off the waterfront well by putting a restaraunt on it, and try to get some street/water interaction with the retail this could be one heck of a project.

It is just a shame that this is delegated to Rocky Point when we possibly could've had a nice 40 story mixed use proposal for downtown.

I wonder if this will jepordizes the Westin project.

[Jasonhouse]

^Maybe, maybe not... Hotel vacancies are low enough to warrant some construction of new hotel rooms... And since the Ritz is replacing old stock (just as the Westin is doing), all this is really doing is moving Rocky Point further up the hotel food chain. Rooms are being added, but it isn't the same as all together new growth.


Mmm... An article finally published only two days late.... Dammit, can we code a blog into the software already!?!?


Oh, and for those who were wondering, now we know what is taking up the slack since Harbour Island is essentially built out. IIRC, this is the 3rd highrise project for Rocky Point, encompassing 6 towers.

[tampamobster21]

Thanks to HI being built out all they can do is build up.