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Four hotel projects planned for downtown Tampa

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Fresh off a recession, developers are eager to build and city officials are eager for them to create jobs. Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn engineered a deal to lease the old courthouse on Florida Avenue to a Memphis, Tenn.-based hotel developer, Development Services Group.

It plans a luxury hotel under the Le Meridien flag, a small brand connected to the giant hotelier Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide. Gary Prosterman, chief executive of Development Services Group, plans to transform the courthouse judges' chambers, courtrooms and hallways into 110 hotel rooms, each with 13-foot ceilings and huge windows.

The Le Meridien will try to win its share of business travelers, but also wants to tap into the artsy types who might want to stay in a historical courthouse and see a show at the Straz Center nearby, Prosterman said.

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A little farther to the south, the developer Trammell Crow Co. has announced a major office tower/hotel complex on land along Morgan Street, near the University of South Florida's new Center for Advance Medical Learning and Simulation. Bob Abberger, Trammell Crow's managing director in Tampa, couldn't be reached for an update. In the past he has said he wants to build a 350-room hotel.

And lastly, the company that purchased the riverfront land that once was designated as Trump Tower Tampa plans a mixed-use project including a hotel. Bob Owens, CEO and president of O,R&L Facility Services, said his firm recently issued a request for proposals on the project, seeking an architecture firm. He wasn't ready to speak further about it last week.

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By Michael Sasso | Tribune Staff
http://tbo.com/news/business/four-ho...n-tampa-599319