TIA board OKs height variance, paving way for Seminole Tribe to move forward with hotel tower
By Eric Snider
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Mar 5, 2015

The Tampa International Airport board of directors on Thursday approved a variance that allows the Seminole Tribe of Florida to move forward in building a 16-floor hotel adjacent to the Seminole Hard Rock Casino.

Based on a hearing officer's recommendation, the board approved the request unanimously and without comment. The hotel as planned would comprise 1.2 million square feet and 537 rooms, making it the second-biggest in the county after the Marriott Waterside in downtown Tampa. It would mark the second hotel on the Hard Rock site.

Further specs call for 250 additional restaurant and bar seats, additional gaming and 450 new parking spaces. But the project is a ways from breaking ground.

"It's still very early in the process," Gary Bitner, spokesman for Seminole Tribe, told the Tampa Bay Times, "and no formal approval has been given by the tribal council of the Seminole Tribe of Florida." The tribe has not made available a price tag on the project.

The height variance was necessary due to the nearby Tampa Executive Airport, which falls under the purview of the Hillsborough County Aviation Authority. The proposed structure cannot exceed a height of 240 feet.

The Federal Aviation Administration and the Florida Department of Transportation had no objections the variance.

Eric Snider is a reporter for the Tampa Bay Business Journal.