Boutique hotel The Current opens on Rocky Point in Tampa

During the Westshore Alliance’s recent annual forum on development trends in the city’s premier office district, industry insiders said Tampa, particularly the Westshore area, needs more hotels to meet demand.

A meaningful step forward in meeting that demand comes in mid-July when The Current, a boutique hotel that is part of Marriott International’s Autograph Collection of independent, luxury hotels, opens on Rocky Point, at the district’s western edge.

On the ground floor, the 10-story, 180-room hotel will feature Julian, a fine dining restaurant. Upstairs, the Rox, a rooftop lounge, will offer a 1,500-square-foot air-conditioned indoor space, a 2,500-square-foot outdoor terrace, and sweeping views of both the Tampa and St. Petersburg skylines. It will be the highest rooftop bar in Tampa Bay, says Stan Lifsey, President of Lifsey Real Estate & Holdings, the hotel’s co-developer.

Lifsey expects the hotel to attract a mix of business travelers looking to be in the thick of things in both Hillsborough and Pinellas counties, and vacationing guests who want to get away from it all within easy traveling distance to local arts, restaurants, and tourist attractions.

“Given that we are in the Westshore Business District, we are going to have a considerable number of corporate guests,” Lifsey says. “But I think because we’re on the water, it’s kind of an urban oasis if you will. We’re close to downtown but we’re also on the water. There’s really not a comparable location in the Bay Area. We’ll be able to cater to a wide swath of demographics.”

Royal Palm Beach’s Pinnacle Hotel Management is the co-developer and hotel management firm. Lifsey says The Current is their first partnership.

Following The Current, four additional hotels are in the pipeline to open by 2021 in the Westshore area, adding more than 600 rooms. A Hyatt House in Avion Park and Home2 Suites on Laurel Street and O’Brien Road are slated to open in 2020. A dual-branded Aloft/Element in the Midtown Tampa development and a Cambria Hotel are scheduled to open in 2021, the year Tampa hosts the Super Bowl.

Here are links to learn more about the businesses in this story: The Current, Lifsey Real Estate & Holdings, Pinnacle Hotel Management.