Belleview Biltmore in 'sad state of decay'
By Margaret Cashill
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Aug 22, 2013

Not long ago, the Belleview Biltmore Hotel showed promise for restoration and a new life, but that vision clouds as the days pass.

The hotel's owners - Miami-based Ades brothers Raphael and Daniel - proposed a plan to raze the aging hotel and replace it with townhomes and condos at a Belleair Town Commission meeting on Aug. 6.

The commission directed staffers to draft up changes to town code that could allow for development.

Proposed changes will go before the town's planning and zoning board in September, and then to the commission in October.

The town is "in a state of limbo,” said Mayor Gary Katica.

"It's in a very sad state of decay” inside the once-splendid hotel, he said. A litter of coyote pups were born on the grounds, in a dried-out fountain.

Owners of nearby condos complain about the value of their homes.

"Just imagine paying up to $1 million or $2 million for a condo looking down at a rusty cyclone fence and overgrown weeds,” Katica said.

Earlier this year, the Ades brothers hired Bay area land use attorney Ed Armstrong to represent them.

"What we're proposing is better for everyone involved - for the community, the town and the nearby residents - than the existing circumstances,” Armstrong said.

Margaret Cashill's beats include technology, hospitality, retail and restaurants.