OLDSMAR - If commuting through Oldsmar - population 15,000 - were a game of Monopoly, you would not want to get caught at Tampa Road and St. Petersburg Drive.

There's not one, two or three major brand-name hotels in a row, but four: a Hilton Garden Inn, a Holiday Inn Express, a Courtyard by Marriott and a Marriott Residence Inn.

What's more, at least two proposals have emerged during confidential discussions to add hotels to Oldsmar's inventory, said Jerry Custin, president and chief executive officer of the Upper Tampa Bay Regional Chamber of Commerce, which handles economic development for the city.

One might involve a Microtel discount chain hotel, although another prospect could be a larger hotel than those that have been built, industry officials stated in interviews.

Developers who invested in Oldsmar's current hotels aren't as sanguine about near-term prospects and said new plans would be premature. That's because of the slumping national economy that led to layoffs in the city's sprawling business sector, including double-digit job cuts at Nielsen Media Research Co., last spring

But long-term expectations for Oldsmar reflect two related trends in the region's hospitality market. One is targeting new hotels toward commercial customers in a county mostly known for tourism. The other is locating new development in central and eastern Pinellas County, across the county from the beaches.

"Our view is that Northeast Pinellas and Northwest Hillsborough is one of the more affluent areas in Tampa Bay, and we can be optimistic about the future of our location," Custin said.

Oldsmar's position on the Hillsborough-Pinellas county line, near both of the Tampa Bay area's commercial airports and 10 miles south of Pasco County's sprawling bedroom communities, has led to Oldsmar becoming home to hundreds of businesses and providing 20,000 jobs within city limits. About 210,000 people live within a five-mile radius of the city's center.

"A lot of hotels have popped up in Oldsmar the last couple years, along with a lot of really nice looking retail in Mediterranean style and a lot of good new restaurants," said D.T. Minich, executive director of Visit St. Petersburg/Clearwater, which markets the county's visitors industry.

The first of Oldsmar's four chain hotels, each of which is a little smaller than 100 rooms, opened in May 2001. Business started slowly, peaked in 2006 with weekday occupancies running above 80 percent, and began to slow down last year.

"The hospitality sector is the first to feel a downturn," said Anthony Menna, who built the two Marriott properties. "I hope we can get back on track by the end of 2009."

Paul Simone, who built the Holiday Inn and Hilton properties, thinks the economy is going to become worse before getting better.

"There's no room for another midscale hotel in Oldsmar," Simone said. "We are having a tough time now and wish the hotel property taxes were reduced.

"If you wanted to develop in Oldsmar, you'd want a major hotel with large conference space to accommodate the other hotel's" meeting needs.

A study that Maryland-based planning real estate and financial consultant Hunter Interests Inc. completed for the city last spring indicated the four recently constructed hotels and other nearby sites did not have the meetings space to accommodate Oldsmar's demand for business and other gatherings.

The consultant said a conference and cultural center project could include a 200-room, full service hotel and a concept to support small- to medium-size meetings with 20,000 to 70,000 square feet of meeting space.

That kind of project, which had been discussed well before the Hunter report was released, would be the capstone to an emerging, stylish civic area that serves as downtown for Oldsmar. Oldsmar's new library celebrated its grand opening Saturday. A developer last year opened the 150,000-square-foot Galleria project, just south of Tampa Road, with a mix of retail, condos and town houses.

Plans for the much larger, mixed use Town Center project just east of City Hall could incorporate a larger hotel than the current ones and provide more meeting space. But progress has been stalled, in part, because of a land acquisition conflict and the size of the project has not been determined.

Beyond serving the immediate area, the hotels in Oldsmar and elsewhere in central Pinellas County could increasingly capitalize on a new trend for leisure visitors who might head to the beaches to seek cheaper weekend hotel rates at inland properties.

As coastal Pinellas hoteliers continue to raise rates while supplies of beachfront motel rooms have declined to make way for condominiums, thrifty visitors could take advantage of hotels seeking to fill weekend gaps when business trade drops off.

Visit St. Petersburg/Clearwater is preparing online and print guides to public access to beaches for those visitors and others, Minich said.

Another emerging market is for inland hotels to provide rooms for families attending amateur athletic events, Minich said.

"Those visitors usually are interested in good proximity and a good rate," Minich said.

Reporter Ted Jackovics can be reached at tjackovics@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-7817.