LAKE WALES, Fla. — The City of Lake Wales is taking back ownership of a historic downtown hotel that has been the subject of a legal battle.
Robert Connors opened The Thirsty Dragon in downtown Lake Wales about two months ago with the restoration of the historic Walesbilt Hotel in mind.
“Really fascinating history with all the silent film stars and Al Capone and all the characters involved in that building. We wanted to create a historical ethic here as well. So we’re trying to create this old-world style tavern,” said Connors.
The tavern is a block away from the Walesbilt Hotel. In its heyday, it provided lodging for the rich and famous. The hotel has sat vacant for 20 years.
“We would stay in that hotel on a regular basis, and it was quite nice at the time,” Connors said.
He said reviving Walesbilt would be a big boost for downtown businesses.
“It’s the centerpiece of the city. It's one of the focal points. Having a downtown hotel, especially a large downtown hotel, is going to have tremendous impact in the number of guests and visitors it brings in here. The amount of foot traffic it generates,” Connors said.
WATCH: Lake Wales regains ownership of historic downtown Walesbilt Hotel
The hotel closed in the 1990s. In 2010, the City of Lake Wales transferred ownership of the vacant building to Raymond Brown, the manager of Dixie-Walesbilt LLC.
Brown agreed to renovate the hotel for apartments and retail space. After years without any progress on the restoration, the city sued Brown in 2022.
The city reached an agreement Friday to regain ownership of Walesbilt Hotel after a three-year legal battle. The deal calls for the city to pay $450,000 to Brown to transfer ownership of the hotel to the Lake Wales Community Redevelopment Agency.
Regaining ownership of the iconic hotel is an integral part of the city’s ongoing plan to revitalize downtown.
“It means everything to revitalizing this area. While we were never going to let this hotel hold our redevelopment efforts back, it’s going to elevate them now,” said James Slaton, Lake Wales City Manager.
The future redevelopment of the Walesbilt Hotel could be at risk if the Florida legislature adopts a pair of bills that would block CRAs from initiating new projects or issuing debt after Oct. 1.
Community Redevelopment Agencies were created to improve blighted conditions in our local communities. CRAs have both the financial resources and the flexibility to make those happen. Why state legislators want to limit redevelopment in our local communities is baffling to us,” Slaton said.
"To keep hitting stone walls trying to resolve the matter—that’s not consumer friendly"
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