Current events: New hotel represents continuation of a family legacy

The name “Lifsey” has been associated with Tampa’s Rocky Point neighborhood for decades. Now Stan Lifsey, grandson of Julian Lifsey Jr., the man who keyed the commercial development of the area in the 1960s and '70s, has ensured the name will live on in perpetuity with the opening of Current, a new 10-story, $54 million Marriott Autograph Collection hotel perched on the edge of Tampa Bay at 2500 Rocky Point Drive.

It’s the first new hotel to be built in the area in more than a decade and represents a breakthrough class of accommodation for the area, Stan Lifsey says. And with an elaborate, spacious rooftop bar and terrace offering unparalleled bay and city skyline views, it should also draw happy hour celebrants from the area’s 1.4 million square feet of office space. Meeting and event space — 5,000 square feet of it — has also been prioritized.