Historic downtown hotel sold

The Floridian Palace Hotel sold to developers who plan to reopen wedding venue and "significantly upgrade" restaurant


  • By Louis Llovio
  • | 5:48 p.m. October 8, 2021
  • | 2 Free Articles Remaining!
COURTESY: The Floridian Palace Hotel was first built in 1926. New owner plan to upgrade the restaurant.
COURTESY: The Floridian Palace Hotel was first built in 1926. New owner plan to upgrade the restaurant.
  • Tampa Bay-Lakeland
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TAMPA — The Floridan Palace Hotel has been sold for an undisclosed amount.

The downtown Tampa landmark at 905 N. Florida Ave. went to Weston-based 1754 Properties, along with Triangle Partnership Group, which is promising to upgrade the hotel and increase staffing, according to a statement. 

“We’ve had our eyes on the rapidly transforming (north downtown) market and are very excited to acquire one of Tampa’s most storied pleasures,” Alex Galewicz, one of the principles at 1754, says in an email.

The company did not disclose the sale price and county property records are not yet showing the transaction, completed Oct. 7. In addition to the hotel, the company bought a parking lot at 505 E. Taylor Ave.

The company, according to the statement, will hire “dozens” of new employees to help bring the hotel back to full operation, including opening the restaurant and wedding and group venues by the end of the year. The company also plans to "significantly upgrade the restaurant experience" to better serve north downtown's growing food and bar scene.

The Floridian Palace Hotel, then the Floridian Hotel, was built in 1926 during a construction boom in Tampa, according to a history on the hotel’s website. It opened the following year. Today, it is the only skyscraper left of the six built in downtown Tampa between 1910 and 1930.

It remained a hotel until it was turned into a building for renters in 1966. That’s the year it lost its designation as the tallest building in Florida.

The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on March 12, 1996 and a week later the city officially enshrined its status as local landmark with Ordinance No. 96-55.

 

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