Tampa's Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Opens

Tampa's Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, a $100 million, 250-room hotel and casino complex, officially opened in March at 5223 N. Orient Road.

The complex consists of a 90,000-sq.-ft. casino within a 210,000 sq.-ft. low-rise building, a 12-story hotel tower and an enclosed parking facility, all situated on 37 acres. The project has been under construction since mid-2002. Phase one of the project, including a portion of the new casino, opened in June.

The Seminole Tribe of Florida owns and operates the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, according to terms of a licensing agreement with Hard Rock Cafe International. The project was developed on behalf of the Tribe by the Cordish Co. of Baltimore. A joint venture between The Perini Co. and Suitt Construction served as the general contractor.

Company Changes Name to Batson-Cook Development

BC Partners announced it will conduct business under its corporate name of Batson-Cook Development Co. "Not only do we view this new identification as a better representation of the services provided by our firm, but it also better represents the relationship between our company and its parent," commented J. Littleton Glover Jr., president of Batson-Cook Development Co.

Atlanta-based Batson-Cook Development Co. is a commercial real-estate company, and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Batson-Cook Co.

Hughes Supply Named a Most Admired Distributor

Orlando-based Hughes Supply was recently named the second most admired distributor for the third consecutive year by Fortune Magazine. In the March 2004 issue, Fortune ranked Hughes as the #2 Most Admired Company in America in the "Wholesalers: Diversified Industry" category.

Tom Morgan, president and CEO of Hughes Supply, said, "We are proud to be ranked as the second most admired company in our industry and especially to maintain this honor for three consecutive years."

The ranking was based on eight criteria: innovation, employee talent, use of corporate assets, social responsibility, quality of management, financial soundness, long-term investment value, and quality of products and services.