TJM Properties buys, renovating St. Pete-Clearwater Airport Inn

BUYER: Sette McCarthy Hotel LLC (Terence J. McCarthy as trustee), Clearwater

SELLER: Osprey Assets II Inc.

PROPERTY: 3655 Hospitality Lane, Clearwater

PRICE: $800,000

PREVIOUS PRICE: $400,000 November 1986

LAW FIRM ON DEED: Ford & Ford PA, St. Petersburg

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: Clearwater-based real estate firm TJM Properties purchased the 118-room St. Pete/Clearwater Airport Inn for $800,000.

The price equated to $6,780 per room. Located near the St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport, the property features a pool and fitness center and was previously owned by an affiliate of Bay Cities Bank.

“It was originally a Hampton Inn and later a Best West Western,” says Malcolm Taaffe with TGM Properties. “The former owners let its flag go. Our goal is bring a flag back. We've also budgeted $350,000 for renovations. It has good bones. Our goal is to make it a premier hotel.”

Taaffe say the new ownership plans to paint the property and replace all the furniture in the rooms.

Along with attracting a Best Western or Quality Inn & Suites flag, TJM Properties expects to set its standard rate at $50 a night, well below the average in that corridor. Taaffe estimates that within three miles there are 20 hotels or motels and about 2,000 rooms.

TJM Properties, which owns and operates 16 senior-focused facilities, recently expanded into hotel properties with the purchase of a Howard Johnson on U.S. 98 and Interstate 4.

Plasencia Group's Sun Hospitality division handled the sale.

“Bay Cities was able to get a troubled asset off its books, and the buyer, who plans a full renovation on the property, was able to acquire an asset with strong upside potential in a strategic location,” Robert O'Leary, vice president of Sun Hospitality's southeast region, says in a press release.