By 1925, Dr. Fred H. Albee, a well-known orthopedic surgeon, had purchased 2,916 acres of land from the Sarasota-Venice Company and retained John Nolen, a world-renowned city planner, to design a city called Venice.

In October 1925, before Albee could implement his plan for Venice, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers (BLE) purchased his Venice property and acquired other property south to Englewood and east to the Myakka River. The BLE, as part of the purchase agreement with Dr. Albee, retained Nolen to develop their city plan that differed somewhat from the plan completed for Albee. The BLE Realty Company was organized to implement the BLE Venice plan. The George A. Fuller Company was selected as the contractor; the New York architectural firm of Walker and Gillette, as supervising architects; and Prentiss French, as landscape architect.

The Hotel Venice at 200 North Nassau Street was the first structure built by the BLE and opened on June 21, 1926. Residential construction started in July 1926, with the construction of three large residences on Venice Avenue west of the downtown commercial district. At the same time, moderately priced homes were built in the Edgewood Section.

In October 1926, construction started on a second BLE hotel at 238 Tampa Avenue, known as the San Marco. This three-story, 92-room hotel was built with a steel-framed structure, structural clay block walls and stucco exterior.

In December 1926, Venice held its first town council meeting and formed the police and fire departments. Governor John Martin appointed Edward L. Worthington as the first mayor of Venice. In January 1927, the Edgewood property owners petitioned to be annexed into the town’s corporate limits. On May 9, 1927, the state legislature changed the designation of Venice from “town” to “city” by amending the enabling legislation.