New boutique hotel on Rocky Point waterfront moving forward
By Ashley Gurbal Kritzer
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Jun 18, 2015

A nine-story boutique hotel in the works for the former Crawdaddy's Restaurant is moving forward, the developer said. Lifsey Real Estate Holdings, which is partnering with Pinnacle Hotel Management on the project, received the final approvals from the city of Tampa last week. It will be a nine-story, 180-room hotel, and the partners would like to open it at least a month before the January 2017 national football championship at Raymond James Stadium.

The Tampa Bay Business Journal was first to report the project was in the works on Feb. 25.

The partnership is "negotiating with a boutique-style flag," Stan Lifsey, principal of Lifsey Real Estate Holdings, wrote in an email. He said it was premature to identify the flag and that the group will likely reach an agreement in about 60 days.

Lifsey previously pegged construction costs at $30 million to $35 million. The hotel will include space for a restaurant and rooftop bar.

The Lifsey family has owned the land for years and leased it to the Rusty Pelican - the family also owns the ground beneath the restaurant - for parking, entering into a new long-term lease in 2012. But when the real estate market started to improve, the family negotiated with the restaurant operator to terminate the ground lease.