With a self-imposed March 31 deadline long past, Trump Tower Tampa developer Frank Dagostino says he's working with a few buyers who want to back out of their condominium deals and recoup at least their escrow.

Financing is still not finalized, but the SimDag LLC chief executive continues to show resolve, suggesting that he's still not giving up on the $225 million, 52-story project.

Now, he says, it could morph into a condo-hotel.

"We're pushing forward with the project, but we may have to change the scope of it," Dagostino said Thursday. "We are exploring every avenue that we can, and if we need to make adjustments to the project, we will."

Another hotel for downtown?

Since first announcing the tower while standing alongside Donald Trump in January 2005, SimDag leaders have struggled to get its Ashley Drive site past the foundation stage. Soil issues delayed the project for months, and by the time SimDag was ready to attempt going vertical, the housing market took a nose dive and Trump Tower Tampa has been in development limbo ever since.

Since late last year, fueling on-again, off-again speculation, SimDag said it has been working with an unidentified New York hedge fund interested in funding construction, but the Tampa market continues to remain risky for new condominium development and the lender has opted to wait for it to improve, Dagostino said.

A hotel component could speed up the development process and also open the door to new funding sources that view a hotel as having less risk.

"We will have the ability to go to other types of lenders," Dagostino said.

Existing downtown Tampa hotels are boasting an occupancy of 65 percent year-round, according to Tampa Bay & Company and the Hillsborough County Hotel & Motel Association, but the local tourism industry has long called for more hotel rooms, especially if the area wants to continue to compete for sport championship games, major conventions and more Super Bowl events.

While it might be easier to change the project to a hotel exclusively, Dagostino said he is remaining committed to those buyers who have been patient and who really want to live in a tower with Trump's name on it. While it's not uncommon for Trump to lend his name to or even develop mixed condo/hotel projects, it wasn't certain that he would continue to offer his name for the Tampa project.

"Mr. Trump has done everything that he can do. He really has," Dagostino said. "He's a good guy, but he's still a businessman. He's trying to do what's best for the city of Tampa as well, but it all comes down to economics. There are bad economics in Florida right now, so what do you do? We think you should try to push forward and try to make the best of what you have."

Trump sued SimDag last May demanding the remaining $1 million balance owed to him for the Tampa developers to license his name. SimDag countersued suggesting Trump breached a contract with the developers when he revealed that he was not part of the development team and instead was being paid to have his name included on the project.

Dagostino has maintained, however, that if SimDag can pay Trump what he owes, both suits would be settled, and it's likely that Trump's name would remain on the project.