BELLEAIR — The demolition of an iconic hotel and the legal battle waged to try to save it has put the Belleview Biltmore Hotel on the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s top 10 Wins and Losses List for 2015.
Built in 1897 along Clearwater Harbor, the 400-room Biltmore played host to royalty and business magnates before closing in 2009.
In May 2014, activist group Friends of the Belleview Biltmore filed a federal lawsuit attempting to block the hotel’s sale to, and demolition by, St. Petersburg developer Mike Cheezem.