The Weston-based developer of a new Twin Peaks restaurant in Lake Buena Vista aims to break ground by February on an adjacent parking deck and 164-key Candlewood Suites, and has yet to choose a property manager or general contractor, the company’s CEO told GrowthSpotter.
Located at 12353 Winter Garden Vineland Road, the two developments would be occupy about half of a 10.42-acre property northwest of the intersection of S. Apopka Vineland Road and Palm Parkway, roughly 2.2 miles from the entrance to Disney Springs.
DMD Ventures, the developer formerly known as Jafrejo Holdings, plans to open the Twin Peaks on Oct. 3.
Partners Jack Flechner and Fred Burgess acquired the three contiguous parcels making up the property in April 2015 for $7.3 million. GrowthSpotter reported in February on the start of construction for the restaurant, and alterations to the property’s Land Use Plan.
The developer’s representative, Highland Engineering, Inc., filed updated plans with Orange County in late August for a Change Determination Review on the LUP, to convert a mixture of existing entitlements into a maximum 279 hotel rooms and structured parking. The CDR would add access locations on the south and east of the property, and requests waivers for building height and distance from residential.
Construction permit applications were also filed in early September for the hotel and a parking deck of roughly 200 spaces, DMD Ventures’ Jack Flechner said Wednesday.
“The (parking deck) is necessary because only about 5 acres of the site is developable. We’re building more than we need to, per code, and this will serve Twin Peaks as well, which has a larger parking demand than” similar chain restaurants, he said.
With a projected cost of $21 million, construction on both is targeted to start in First Quarter 2017, with 12 to 14 months before opening the hotel in 2018, Flechner said.
DMD Ventures would favor a general contractor with demonstrated experience in similar hotel and parking deck projects, with a focus on competitive cost projections and references, Flechner said.
The company is also starting to interview hotel management companies, with an eye for operators that know Orlando’s tourism corridor and Lake Buena Vista, he added.
Fundraising of $20 million for the Lake Buena Vista project has been completed by coordinating 40 foreign investors through the EB-5 immigrant visa program, Flechner said.
DMD Ventures/Jafrejo owns franchise restaurants, shopping centers and limited service hotels in South Florida and Atlanta. Burgess founded an EB-5 consulting firm, which is the main form of financing the company uses for its new developments.
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