With the title to the historic Walesbilt Hotel firmly in hand, the City of Lake Wales has issued a nationwide invitation to potential redevelopers of the ten-story building.
According to a document released by the city, a request for qualifications (RFQ) response by interested parties will allow the city to “evaluate and shortlist developers based on their technical expertise, financial capacity, project experience and recent relevant innovative strategies for adaptive reuse of properties similar to the Walesbilt Hotel.”
The city obtained the title from former long-time owner Ray Brown of Dixie-Walesbilt LLC only weeks ago after resolving a two-year lawsuit and is now moving with speed to seek a new use for the vacant building. Responses to the RFQ are due by July 18, and qualifiers will then have the opportunity to present their specific plans. The city anticipates receiving all completed proposals by October 10.
City Manager James Slayton has said that as many as eight different parties have already expressed interest in obtaining the building for redevelopment, but that he wants to “cast a wide net” by offering it nationally.
Respondents “must demonstrate their ability to preserve historic integrity, enhance economic viability and implement best practices in redevelopment,” the invitation states.
Long a goal of both the business community and city officials, hopes have risen that a productive restoration of the building as a hotel is possible. City officials have acknowledged that some cooperative agreements with the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency are likely to be needed to address the need for an adjacent parking garage, which could also serve other downtown parking needs.