Amin Gulamali, a veteran owner-operator of gas stations in the Greater Orlando area, paid $5 million on Oct. 23 for the Sleep Inn and Suites near Orlando International Airport, and plans about $50,000 in upgrade investments through the coming year, the new owner told GrowthSpotter.
Located at 1700 McCoy Road, the 74-key hotel lies on a 1.88-acre parcel just a few blocks east of the intersection of S. Orange Avenue and E. Sand Lake Road, and roughly two miles west of Orlando International Airport. The three-story hotel built in 2001 features 81,745 square feet of net space.
“The way that Orlando is growing, and this (property’s) proximity to the airport, were both big pluses for us,” Gulamali said Monday by phone, as he packed up assets at a gas station property in Clermont he plans to sell soon, in an unrelated deal.
New exterior painting and upgrades to rooms, lighting and lobby carpeting are among the initial round of investments Gulamali said he and family investment partners will make in 2016. Roughly $50,000 has been budgeted for the upgrades, he noted.
Gulamali and partners Ramzan Gulamali and Aziz Ferozal will manage the property, though a new general manager has been hired locally to oversee day-to-day operations. The property will retain the Sleep Inn flag from Choice Hotels, Gulamali said.
Gulamali owns multiple fuel stations in the Greater Orlando region, including a Mobil station at 3000 W. Colonial Dr., as well as a small retail shopping center. This is his family’s first investment in the local hotel market.
Gulamali acquired a loan for the purchase worth $3.1 million from First Green Bank out of Mount Dora, due in November 2024.
The property was last acquired in July 2001 for $4.025 million by Tri-State Hospitality Inc., a business entity owned by Kotamreddy R. Reddy and Vemula S. Reddy.
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