John’s Pass is poised to get its first major hotel inside the village itself after years of functioning primarily as a retail and day-trip destination along Pinellas County’s beaches.
A longtime parking lot near 125 129th Ave. E. could become an 87-room Marriott Tribute Portfolio hotel with 12,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space, structured parking, a rooftop pool and a rooftop restaurant overlooking the Intracoastal Waterway.
The project marks a shift for John’s Pass Village, which has long drawn tourists to its bars, shops and waterfront restaurants but has lacked a hotel inside the district itself, forcing many visitors to stay elsewhere along the beaches.
“Hotels have been needed down there for many, many years,” Madeira Beach developer Bill Karns said. “All the businesses are very excited.”
Karns said he had held the property for years while waiting for Madeira Beach and Pinellas County to approve a new Activity Center designation allowing denser mixed-use redevelopment in John’s Pass Village.
The land-use changes, approved last year, opened parts of the waterfront district to larger hotel and mixed-use projects in an area long defined by small lots, older buildings and surface parking. The site itself has operated primarily as parking for roughly two decades.
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Plans submitted to the city show shops and restaurants lining the lower floors, with hotel rooms wrapped around the parking structure above. Karns said the project also would include a rooftop restaurant and bar designed to take advantage of water views overlooking the pass.
Karns described the development as a boutique hotel intended to fit the character of John’s Pass rather than resemble a large beachfront tower.
“It’s a small boutique hotel,” Karns said. “Really Key West fishing village type style.”
The proposal reflects a broader redevelopment wave moving through Tampa Bay’s beach communities as developers push to replace aging commercial sites and parking lots with denser hospitality and mixed-use projects tied to rising tourism demand and waterfront land values.
The hotel still requires several approvals from Madeira Beach, including a Planned Development rezoning and the partial closure of Fisherman’s Alley, which cuts through the site.
Madeira Beach commissioners are expected to discuss the proposal May 27, with additional hearings scheduled in June and July.
If approvals move forward, Karns said final design and engineering work would take about six months, followed by permitting and roughly 18 months of construction, putting the hotel on track to open in 2028.
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