Since a proposal to renovate and expand the shuttered Hacienda Hotel hit a roadblock earlier this year, the New Port Richey government has been stuck in a holding pattern as it explored a different option for revitalizing the downtown historic landmark.
Last week, New Port Richey City Manager John Schneiger heard news that he finds encouraging enough to renew negotiations with the project’s potential developer in pursuit of a new direction for the project. After a legal review, the city manager is ready to talk to the firm about an idea to expand the property northeast into the Gloria Swanson parking lot.
The Story so Far....
In March, the city’s elected officials were poised to vote on a proposal that would have paved the way for the city and the Hacienda’s potential developer, Community Development Partners, to . As part of the project, it was proposed that the building be expanded westward into Sims Park
The night of the vote, Schneiger announced and the vote was tabled.
Shortly after, the idea popped up of expanding the .
Andy Ham, vice president of development with CDP, has said the expansion could be a free-standing building to be created on the Gloria Swanson lot. It could house rooms. The current Hacienda building, which opened in the late 1920s but has been vacant since shortly after the city bought it last decade, could house amenities. Parking could be accommodated at the old Post Office building site nearby.
The catch? The city attorney found an egress/ingress easement possibly held by an outside party on property in the footprint of the expansion. CDP was waiting for the city to find out how to tackle it before continuing negotiations.
And now...
According to e-mail records, on June 13, Schneiger learned from the city’s legal team that the title to the property with the easement in question was transferred to the First Baptist Church of New Port Richey in the 1980s. The easement transferred to the church as part of the overall transfer.
When the city bought the church in 2005, the easement in question appears to have transferred to the city with the property title.
“We actually own that easement that we’ve been concerned about, so it’s really about the best news that we could have gotten,”, Schneiger said Tuesday after a city council meeting , specifically in answer to a question from a Tampa Bay Times correspondent.
Schneiger said that he plans to talk to CDP later this week about crafting a proposal for a new agreement to redevelop and expand the Hacienda.
“They’re very excited,” he said in answer to a Patch question.
Just HOW MANY tourists (and others) do they think will come running to stay there???? I'm sorry, but (in my opinion) if I was a tourist planning a vacation, there isn't ONE solitary thing that would attract me to the HWY 19 / West Pasco area all the way from Hudson to Holiday. It's a mess ..
I'd love to hear from fellow therapists with whom I served. DRMARKAS@AOL.COM
Great to hear from you. If you'd like to see some of our coverage of the Haciendas history, you can also see our local historian's column http://newportrichey.patch.com/articles/hacienda-hotel-new-port-richeys-national-historic-landmark
No plans are set for how the hotel will be constructed, but Ham has said initial thoughts are for the historic building along Main Street to be refurbished with restaurant and retail space on the first floor, and conference space, a spa and hotel suites on the second. Additional rooms would be built in a tower on the Gloria Swanson parking lot, which would not connect to the existing historic structure. An old post office building adjacent to the parking lot would also need to be razed for parking, Schneiger has said.
If nothing else the city should insist that the original Hacienda Hotel remain as it was designed put all the amenities in the new building. Or better yet let the city seek the grant money available for historical restoration, create an interactive museum based on its history and market it to the European$ who have buck$ and like hostel settings. Hire a management company to run it for say 10 - 15% of the profits. Whatever you do don't ruin the historical value of the Hacienda and its rich history.
Has anyone figured out the exact number of DAILY customers / tourists that will be REQUIRED to keep such a project running & profitable when it's finished?? Just "where" will all of these patrons come from? Tourists? Locals? Why doesn't this project make any sense to me?