Orlando-based Reddy Hotels wants to bring the market’s first EVEN Hotel flag to the airport submarket on a site that had been approved for a Best Western Premier.
The developer had an approved master plan for the 110-room Best Western Premier hotel on the site at 4315 McCoy Rd. and already started the site development work for the hotel. Earlier this month Meghaj Reddy sought a determination from the Orlando planning department to change the flag to EVEN, a premier-level select-service hotel from IHG. The new hotel would be four stories and have 100 rooms.
He submitted new renderings from Dale Parsons with Construction and Design Group of Florida, which is based in Orlando. The same firm worked with Reddy on the initial Best Western project and on the side-by-side hotels across the street at Conway Center.
Reddy and its affiliate, Greenpoint Hospitality, opened the 91-room AVID Hotel flag at 7976 Conway Rd. in late 2020 and completed the neighboring Cambria Hotel at 7986 Conway Rd. the following year. Both are 5-story hotels with sleek, airy designs meant to appeal to business travelers.
The Reddy family has owned the 2.9-acre McCoy Road tract since 2006 and also considered building a Wyndham Garden on the site in 2016 before focusing on the two hotels across the street.
The EVEN brand was created “to keep travelers’ wellness routines going however they choose to define them,” according to IHG. The company currently has just two EVEN flags in Florida, in Miami and at Lakewood Ranch, but the chain is expanding to 50 sites worldwide.
IHG unveiled a new brand prototype last September that expands the food and beverage options, introducing a revamped restaurant with a flexible, rotating menu that includes items specifically for guests who want to eat healthy.
Other signature hallmarks of the new prototype include multiple fitness options, ranging from an athletic studio to a choice of in-room fitness on demand content and free laundry service for workout gear.
A signature sleep experience, spa-inspired showers, and infused water and complementary nightly tea service in the lobby to help guests restore and recharge.
Hotel construction has been steady in the airport submarket. In the city of Belle Isle, Orlando hotelier JD Eligeti recently opened a Wyndham Garden at 2635 McCoy Rd. after a three-year effort to get city approval for a 4-story hotel on the site.
McKibbon Hospitality opened its third hotel, the 156-key Hyatt House, in the Gateway Village on Semoran Boulevard in February. McKibbon developed the neighboring Hampton Inn & Suites and the Homewood Suites on Gateway Village Circle in 2012 and 2013, respectively. The Tampa-based hotelier recently filed construction plans for its fourth Gateway asset, a new 5-story, 155-key AC Hotel by Marriott.
Have a tip about Central Florida development? Contact me at lkinsler@GrowthSpotter.com or (407) 420-6261, or tweet me at @byLauraKinsler. Follow GrowthSpotter on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
