The former Federal Courthouse opened in 1905 and was initially designed for the United States Postal Service to serve the dual purpose of post office and courthouse. It did so through much of the 20th century. From 1984 to 1998, the building was used exclusively to house the Tampa Division of the United States Middle District Court. The beautiful Beaux-Arts building features massive Greek-style columns fronted by an expansive staircase leading to oversized doors on the second floor. In 1998, the District Court moved two blocks north to the new 17-story Sam Gibbons Federal Courthouse at 801 N Florida Ave. It is home to the United States Bankruptcy Court.

This building then sat empty for over a decade. In 2004, proposals were made to convert the space into apartments, a hotel, a charter school, and an incubator for creative professionals. Former City Councilman Joe Chillura even advocated for making it a history center. In 2005, Mayor Pam Iorio wanted to turn the building into an art museum and raze the old Tampa Museum of Art to provide an unobstructed view of the Hillsborough River. None of those plans came to fruition. The museum was razed, but a new, larger structure was built directly across Curtis Hixon Park from the old one. In 2013, plans were unveiled for a $25 million renovation to open the 130-room Le Méridien Hotel. The design was to keep some of the former courthouse features, including turning the largest courtroom into a ballroom. Le Méridien opened in 2014.

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