Dr. Kiran Patel demolishing Indian Rocks Beach motel to make way for luxury condos
By Ashley Gurbal Kritzer
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Mar 7, 2023

Dr. Kiran Patel is demolishing an Indian Rocks Beach motel to potentially make way for a "really luxurious, exclusive" condominium development.

An entity linked to Patel has owned the 45-key Gulf Towers Resort at 404 Gulf Blvd. since 2005, when he paid $9 million for it, according to Pinellas County property records. Patel's team pulled a demolition permit in late 2022, county building records show. Records peg the costs of the demolition at $150,000.

Patel, a prolific real estate developer and philanthropist, initially built his fortune in health care. He sold WellCare Health Plans Inc. for $200 million in 2002 and went on to make two $1 billion-plus exits from other health care companies. His personal residence in Carrollwood, a compound that includes homes for his children, was under construction for nearly 10 years. The family began moving in earlier this year.

The boutique condo project Patel envisions on his gulf-front property is eight units, he told the Tampa Bay Business Journal on Tuesday. He said there's a bit of "anxiety" about the real estate market. While he'd like to see the condos go vertical in the third quarter, he'd also like to see them 50% presold before breaking ground.

Patel said his team is still conceptualizing the building with an architect and that he is not ready to hire a listing agent to market the condos for sale.

"I believe that when you have really exclusive product, there may be buyers who are not dependent on bank debt," Patel said.

He said he's also open to owning one of the condos himself. He said he owns a condo in Bella Capri, a 23-unit project he developed on the gulf in 2009. His other condo projects in the area include Da Vinci in Indian Rocks Beach and Ocean 12 in North Redington Beach.