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Seminole Hard Rock looking at new hotel project

 
The existing Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino complex in Tampa is the most lucrative of the seven casinos owned by the Seminole tribe in Florida. The proposed hotel would be adjacent.
The existing Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino complex in Tampa is the most lucrative of the seven casinos owned by the Seminole tribe in Florida. The proposed hotel would be adjacent.
Published March 11, 2015

TAMPA — The Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino is seeking permission to build a new hotel tower alongside its most profitable casino.

The proposed hotel, at 1.2 million square feet, would have 16 floors and 573 rooms, making it the second-largest hotel in Hillsborough County. The largest is the downtown Tampa Marriott Waterside Hotel & Marina, which has 27 floors and 719 rooms.

The bay area economic climate is certainly inviting to new hotel construction: Tourism, hotel profits and the real estate market for existing hotels are all booming.

A spokesman for the Seminole Tribe of Florida, which owns the casino complex, cautioned that the tribe hasn't yet decided whether to proceed with the project.

"It's still very early in the process," Gary Bitner said, "and no formal approval has been given by the tribal council of the Seminole Tribe of Florida."

But the regulatory approval that the tribe is seeking for the project is a step that most developers don't usually take unless their projects are getting closer to launch.

The Seminoles asked for a height variance for the project from the Hillsborough County Aviation Authority, which runs Tampa International Airport. Federal and airport officials determined that the proposed 240-foot hotel would not interfere with flight operations. The authority's governing board is set to vote on the tribe's request today.

This would be the second hotel built at the Hard Rock complex, giving the casino a total of 817 rooms. It also would add more gaming space to what is the fourth-largest casino in the nation and the most lucrative of the seven casinos owned by the Seminole Tribe in Florida.

A new hotel was just one of several projects the tribe was considering about four years ago. In 2012, the Hard Rock finished a $75 million expansion of the casino floor. It now surpasses five football fields and has 5,000 slot machines, 110 table games and 50 poker tables.

The other phases of that proposed expansion had included a new hotel, new meeting space and a music hall that seats up to 2,000.

Whether the tribe still will pursue those or other amenities hasn't been decided yet, Bitner said. Nor did the tribe disclose why it has held off on those projects.

Back then, the bay area and the nation were mired in a recession. The economic climate for building a new hotel has vastly improved in the Tampa Bay region.

Tourists are flocking to the bay area. In Hillsborough, hotel revenues have climbed back to prerecession highs. New hotels like Aloft Downtown Tampa, the Epicurean and Le Meridien Tampa have come online. Last month, Tampa philanthropist Kiran Patel held a groundbreaking for a new 450-room Wyndham Grand resort that will have twin 15-story towers along Clearwater Beach.

And buyers are lining up to buy existing hotels. Last month, the 416-room Hilton Clearwater Beach sold for $134 million, a record price for a Pinellas County hotel.

Even Tampa Bay Lightning owner and budding developer Jeff Vinik has jumped into the region's hot hotel market with both feet: Last year he bought the Marriott Waterside for $150 million and filed plans to build a 25-story, 400-room hotel right next door to it.

"As a destination, for investment as well as for growth, our time has come," Hillsborough County Hotel Motel Association executive director Bob Morrison said.

The Hard Rock also has done well. Last year, the tribe collected more than $2 billion in revenue from all of its Florida gambling operations, according to Bitner, and 40 percent of that came from the Tampa casino.

Whether or not the Seminoles pursue this or any other capital projects on its tribal land, however, likely depends on what happens in Tallahassee this legislative session.

The state must renew the gaming compact that allows the tribe's casinos to run blackjack tables and other card games. The governor negotiates the new agreement and the Legislature must approve it.

In the meantime, Bitner said the tribe will continue to seek regulatory approval in case they decide to build.

"It would certainly be wonderful to come out and say this is going to be a great thing for Tampa Bay and maybe it will be at some point," he said. "But it's too early to get on that bandwagon."

Contact Jamal Thalji at thalji@tampabay.com or (813) 226-3404. Follow @jthalji.