Upscale Hotel and Convention Center Complex Approved Near Tampa, Fla., Port

TAMPA, Fla. -- Plans for a futuristic conference center and world-class hotel near downtown got a green light, but only after a rancorous debate over the direction of Tampa's port.

Port commissioners approved a new agreement with developers planning to build the $400-million complex on public land just north of Tampa Port Authority headquarters on Channelside Drive.

Under the deal, Tampa International Technology Center LLC must come up with a lender's commitment to finance the project by next March and begin construction one year after that.

The group has a signed letter of intent with a five-star hotel and is negotiating a deal with a lending syndicate, said attorney Stephen Mitchell, who represents the developers.

Plans call for a 45-story tower, nearly as tall as downtown's biggest office skyscrapers, containing a five-star hotel and luxury condominiums. But the real drawing card would be a high-tech conference and convention center.

The developers expect that corporations will lease the facility for executive conferences and training sessions that would be beamed around the globe via satellite, fiber optic cable and wireless technologies.

"It will be the icon of the high-tech corridor running from Tampa to Orlando," Mitchell said.