HoJo near State Fairgrounds to be torn down, rebuilt with new flag
By Ashley Gurbal Kritzer
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Aug 11, 2015

Prominent Tampa-based hotel consultant Lou Plasencia likes to say that Hillsborough County is not overdeveloped, it's underdemolished.

At least one ownership group has heard the call - with plans to tear down a 40-year-old Howard Johnson motel at the junction of Interstate 4 and 50th Street (Exit 3) near the Florida State Fairgrounds and erect a Holiday Inn Express in its place.

Owner Ghanshyam Patel said he and his partners plan to break ground on the new product in a couple of months.

The design calls for 100 rooms, expanded meeting rooms that will accommodate 150 to 200, and other amenities. The owners are actively exploring the inclusion of LED lighting, not a feature often seen in limited-service hotels.

"It might be a little more expensive [in the development] stage,” Patel said, but added of the energy-efficient LED platform, "there is potential cost savings over the long term.”

Patel estimated the cost of the project at $9 million.