Historic Belleview Biltmore Slated for Demolition

The historic Belleview Biltmore’s days are numbered.

The Belleair Town Commission voted 5-0 Tuesday to give developer Mike Cheezem the go ahead to raze most of the hotel to make way for condominiums, according to the Tampa Bay Times. Cheezem expects he’ll close on the $6.6 million property sometime in January and anticipates salvage and demolition work will get under way in March.

The vote came after roughly 6 hours of testimony from those both in favor of and against the project.

Once completed, Cheezem’s project will include 28 town homes, 104 condominiums and a boutique hotel. That hotel will be fashioned from a portion of the original Biltmore that will be moved on the property, The Tampa Tribune reported.

The hotel was built in 1896 by railroad tycoon Henry Plant. Constructed of heart pine, the sprawling hotel had also garnered the interest of Peabody Hotels & Resorts, which wanted to undergo a full-scale renovation. Cheezem, however, had the first option on the property.

Opponents of the razing saw the Peabody proposal as a way to save the “White Queen of the Gulf,” as the Biltmore has been dubbed.

“This shouldn’t be about who can afford the best attorney,” wrote Jason Aquilar in a letter to Pinellas Commissioner Karen Seel prior to the meeting. “It should be about preserving this one-of-a-kind historic structure for future generations.”

Cheezem acknowledged the community’s attachment to the historic structure at Tuesday’s meeting.

“We’re real excited about saving part of the hotel and making it an asset to benefit not only our community but the community at large,” the Times quoted him as saying. “It will be a living piece of history.”

Tuesday’s vote not only paved the way for the razing of the National Register of Historic Places-listed hotel, but also for the new site plan, zoning and a development agreement.

YouTube screenshot

See Also:

• Time Running Out for Belleview Biltmore