A landmark of Tampa’s cigar legacy is returning to life. The historic Sanchez y Haya Hotel, built in 1910 and long left to deteriorate, has entered its final phase of restoration under the stewardship of the J.C. Newman Cigar Company—the oldest family-owned premium cigar maker in the United States.
What was once a gathering place for factory workers from the iconic El Reloj facility across the street will soon reopen as a fully restored boutique hotel and cigar center, reclaiming its original purpose after decades of neglect.
A Building With Deep Cigar Roots
For Christian Klein, great-great-grandson of Serafín Sánchez—the building’s namesake—the restoration carries emotional and historic weight. Sánchez, along with partner Ventura Ybor Haya, developed the property through the Sanchez y Haya real estate company as Ybor City thrived as a global cigar capital in the early 20th century.
“This all had to be done by hand by a lot of people,” Klein said during a recent visit to the site. “A lot of love went into this building. When you see my ancestor’s name still on the marquee after 115 years—it means everything.”
Originally built to house cigar workers and traveling industry professionals, the hotel became a lively hub that, over time, cycled through several identities—a grocery store, speakeasy, neighborhood bar, and, unfortunately, later a hotspot for crime and urban decline.
Now owned by the J.C. Newman Cigar Company, the Sanchez y Haya building has been structurally stabilized, stripped down to its bones, cleared of a long-running bat infestation, and prepared for a total revival. This next chapter is one J.C. Newman President Drew Newman believes is both a responsibility and a tribute to Tampa’s cigar story.
“We realized that if we didn’t go in and restore this piece of Tampa’s history, nobody else could or would,” Newman said. “Our only goal is to bring the building back to life so that it looks, feels, and even smells like it did when it opened 115 years ago.”
The final phase of construction—officially underway as of this week—will transform the property into a boutique hotel, gift shop, and cigar destination, integrated into the living history of Ybor City and just steps away from J.C. Newman’s famed El Reloj factory.
Preservation Backed by Community Investment
The restoration received significant support, including $600,000 from Hillsborough County’s preservation board and $5 million from the Tampa Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA). In total, the project represents an $18 million investment in preserving Ybor City’s cultural and architectural heritage.
To date, workers have used more than 1,400 bags of concrete to fortify the century-old structure—symbolic of the monumental effort behind the project.
For Klein, that effort honors both past and present. “The fact that they’re using the building for what it was meant to be used for—that’s what makes this significant,” he said.
The Sanchez y Haya Hotel is expected to open in November 2026, bringing back a piece of cigar history that helped define Ybor City’s identity for more than a century. Once again, it will welcome visitors from around the world—this time as a thoughtfully restored, cigar-friendly landmark built to celebrate Tampa’s place in premium tobacco heritage.
Watch Tampa Bay’s Fox 13’s coverage of this story here.
Photo: Tampa CRA