Dec. 28--TAMPA -- The city's best known strip club owner is trying a new career: hotelier.

Joe Redner, the owner of the Mons Venus strip club, says he became 51 percent owner of the Westshore Hotel, formerly the Admiral Benbow Inn, about three months ago.

"Someone brought the deal to me," Redner said. "It sounded like a good one and I had available money."

He wouldn't say how much he paid for the hotel ownership, but Fuel and Shubh Capital Management paid more than $17-million for the property in June, according to the property appraiser.

Redner said he has no plans for the parcel until after Tampa hosts the Super Bowl in 2009. After that, he'd like to tear down the existing building and replace it with another hotel, possibly a Westin, as well as offices and a 1,400-car parking garage.

Ron Rotella, executive director of the Westshore Alliance, said people still refer to the hotel by its old Admiral Benbow name.

"It's history," he said of the hotel, built in 1973. "That was its longest run. It hasn't had another prominent brand on it since then."

Redner built his reputation as a strip club owner, but now owns only the Mons Venus. His other business interests include a fitness center, a building occupied by the Lime restaurant in South Tampa and office space leased to the Internal Revenue Service.

In recent years, Redner has become a perennial candidate for public office. He has made seven failed attempts to win a seat on the Hillsborough County Commission or Tampa City Council with a pro-environment, anti-development platform.

In March, Redner paid $1.5-million for the Taco Bell adjacent to the Mons Venus, according to Hillsborough County Property Appraiser records.

By early next year, he said, the Taco Bell will be turned into a Spanish restaurant with a drive-through. The property also will be used to handle overflow parking from the Mons.

Researcher John Martin contributed to this report.

-----

To see more of the St. Petersburg Times -- including its homes, jobs, cars and other classified listings -- or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.sptimes.com.

Copyright (c) 2007, St. Petersburg Times, Fla.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.