About The Club
The Tampa Club is a welcoming, diverse, and inclusive club operating since 1981 as a private business and social club benefiting members with fine dining and personalized service. The Tampa Club seeks to provide an atmosphere welcoming of the diverse representations of success and the progress of our community's culture and conducts itself and its business in a manner that fosters prestige and respect. The Tampa Club membership consists of senior-level executives, professionals, entrepreneurs, and military, civic, and community leaders. We are an extension of your office, where your workday can continue seamlessly, or a retreat - a place to reflect, relax and renew.
With our recent 8,000+ square foot transformation, the Main Dining Room, now called The Canopy Ballroom, highlights Tampa’s recognition as the top tree city in the World. The Grille was renamed View42 for the 42nd floor, and the Tampa skyline view has undergone a massive remodel, including an expanded white quartzite bar top surrounded by 21 seats. Other additions include two new meeting spaces, cosmetic updates to the restrooms and event space, and a new co-working space with a southern view of Downtown Tampa, including Harbor and Davis Islands. On a clear day, the Sunshine Skyway Bridge.
BOOK YOUR NEXT EVENT
With various versatile and intimate event spaces, all with sweeping panoramic views of Tampa Bay, the Tampa Club provides an elegant and sophisticated venue for hosting all your Private Event needs.
Business Meetings & Corporate Entertaining
Weddings & Rehearsal Dinners
Private Parties & Fundraisers
HISTORY OF THE TAMPA CLUB
The Tampa Club was founded in 1981 by officers Max Hollingsworth (President), John Germany (Vice President), John McWhirter Jr. (Secretary), and William Davis (Treasurer), and directors Gordon Campbell, Leonard Gilbert, David Murphey III, James Taggart, and Thomas Henderson III. Though not an officer or director, William MacInnes was perhaps the most instrumental person in the Tampa Club’s formation. MacInnes was the TECO Energy Board Chairman from 1967-1984, Exchange Bank Board Chairman until its merger with NCNB, a subsequent NCNB Board member, and a Board member of Host International, the Tampa Club’s first management company. These ten gentlemen founded the Tampa Club to “… fill the need for a genuinely exclusive and prestigious private business luncheon club here in Tampa.
The Tampa Club held its grand opening on April 12, 1982. At its opening, the Tampa Club occupied the 22nd-floor penthouse of the NCNB Tower, known today as the Franklin Exchange Building.
The Tampa Club quickly became popular with downtown’s community of business professionals. In a few short years, membership had moved beyond its opening number of 350, and the club was outgrowing its home in the NCNB Tower. The Board of Directors looked to Tampa’s newest skyscraper, scheduled for completion in 1986, as the address of its future home. Known then as Barnett Plaza, the construction plans for the Class A tower included 577 vertical feet of white Spanish marble spanning two city blocks, an expansive granite plaza with two water features, a magnificent outdoor sculpture by internationally recognized artist Charles Perry, and rich African mahogany lobby walls with brushed brass enhancements. Now known as the Bank of America Plaza, there is still no other building in Tampa as high or providing a more impressive business address.
Atlanta-based firm Ferry-Hayes was contracted to provide the original design for the new club’s 22,104 square feet of interiors, centered on the 18th century England theme. The total cost of the new club was $3.5 million, and construction took a year. The Tampa Club took up residence in its new home in 1987. Members were captivated by the luxurious setting featuring views of the city, old Tampa Bay, Hillsborough River, and the historic University of Tampa, available only from Tampa’s then-tallest building. Meeting and dining rooms included the Main Dining Room, Grille, Rotunda, Grand Ballroom, Library, Directors’ Room, Crystal Room, MacInnes Room, and Hollingsworth Room.
In 2006, the club’s executive offices were moved out of the club and across the hall. The Germany Boardroom was constructed in the space where the executive offices had been, and the Directors’ Room was turned into a business center.
In 2014, the Library was deconstructed in favor of an open, airy lobby lounge. Members and guests entering the Tampa Club are now treated to a breathtaking panoramic eastern view from the new Skyline Lounge. During the same renovation, the Directors’ Room was eliminated, and a temperature-controlled Wine Room was constructed in its place.
BNG Hospitality acquired The Tampa Club in October 2019. Their focus is on reconcepting/repositioning the club to become more relevant to a modern-day demographic. As of February 2022, BNG is proud to announce the newly renovated club is open to all. The Tampa Club has also joined the BNG collection to include five other business clubs located in Charleston, Memphis, Greenville, San Antonio and Orange County.
