The San Marco Hotel was built in 1926 by the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers as part of the initial development of the City of Venice and opened in November after only 90 days of construction. It had a decorative ground-floor lobby, space for 13 shops and a restaurant, and 92 residential rooms with private baths on the upper floors. Designed in the Mediterranean Revival style to match John Nolan’s master plan for the city, its steel and concrete construction made it the most durable building in Venice. A showpiece of the newly emerging “City on the Gulf,” it fell into disuse after the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers failed financially in 1928 and the Great Depression followed. The building stood empty until 1932, when it reopened as part of the winter campus for the Kentucky Military Institute, where from January through Easter cadets lived on the two upper floors and attended classes on the ground floor. This seasonal use continued until 1970, when the institute closed the Venice campus because of dwindling funds and the political winds of the time. After several unused years, mid-1970s renovations converted the former hotel into a mixed-use building with condominiums above and retail units below. In 2010, it was listed in the National Register of Historic Places as part of the John Nolan Plan of Venice Historic District.