The James Hotel West Tampa

The James Hotel West Tampa is a planned roughly 70-room boutique hotel inside the century-old Balbin Bros. Cigar Factory, a long-vacant West Tampa industrial building. Developer My Hospitality Hotels is investing over $13 million combined to convert the never-before-hotel structure, with Sonesta's James Hotels brand attached to the project and an opening targeted for 2026.

The place

The project occupies the historic Balbin Bros. Cigar Factory on N. Howard Avenue in West Tampa, a 1904 industrial building that had stood vacant for years before this conversion began.

The concept

My Hospitality Hotels bought the long-abandoned Balbin Bros. Cigar Factory for $1.4 million and committed a further $12 million to convert it into a boutique hotel of roughly 70 rooms, working with the city's historic preservation office to keep the building's exterior character intact while modernizing the interior. Sonesta has since attached the property to its newly launched James Hotels brand, positioned as a design-led lifestyle label. The project has moved through several announced timelines since renovation work began in 2023, and as of this writing it has not yet opened; the operator and finish date should be confirmed directly before planning a stay. It is included here as a genuine new-hotel conversion of a never-before-used-as-a-hotel industrial building, distinct from a renovation of an operating hotel.

Dining & wellness

Details to be confirmed — coverage indicates light food-and-beverage offerings are planned, consistent with Sonesta's James Hotels positioning, but no specific restaurant or bar concepts have been announced.