Hotel & Hospitality Developments

• Buyer JV pays $4.9 million for hotel pads at Buena Vista Park

  Kissimmee-based  Carter Hospitality Group has sold two of its three entitled hotel parcels in Buena Vista Park for a combined $4.9 million and has the third lot under contract to another developer. The buyer for the two southernmost lots on Ravallo Resort Drive is a joint venture between two hotel...

• Park Square Homes firms up plans for new hotel construction in Seminole County

  Park Square Homes, led by father-and-son team Suresh and Vishaal Gupta, is in the approval process to build a WoodSpring Suites Hotel on Hickman Drive near Sanford. Vishaal Gupta told GrowthSpotter Park Square is awaiting building permits to construct the 123-room, extended stay hotel at 133 Hickman...

• New York real estate firm getting in the Reunion vacation rental business

  New York-based GMF Capital has invested nearly $11 million over the last few months to enter the luxury vacation rental market in Reunion Resort near Disney. The firm bought five vacation homes in December -- including three in a single week -- and three vacant lots in the fall. The most expensive...

• Ohio hotelier pays $3.5M for I-Drive hotel pads next to SeaWorld

  Toledo-based Key Hotel and Property Management paid $3.5 million on Dec. 27 for a 6.2-acre site on International Drive that's within walking distance to SeaWorld and Discovery Cove.  Orange County approved a development plan in September for a pair of hotels on the site. With full access to I-Drive...

• The year in review: GrowthSpotter’s top stories of 2018

  From lawsuits to long drives to Lay’s potato chips, GrowthSpotter readers gravitated toward all kinds of stories in 2018. Big in the mix, not surprisingly, was new construction – factories, shopping centers and entertainment venues among the most clicked. Did you miss any of our “biggest hits”...

• AD1 Global buys two more Orlando hotels as part of multi-state acquisition

  Fast-growing AD1 Global is ending its 2018 with a multi-state hotel portfolio buy that includes a pair of Marriott flags in Orlando for a combined $35.5 million. The Hollywood-based hotel owner-operator purchased the 170-room Fairfield Inn & Suites Orlando-Lake Buena Vista for $19.5 million and...

• South Florida couple buys W192 hotel in mid-renovation

  A South Florida couple who oversaw one of the most successful hotel rebrandings in the West Kissimmee submarket has purchased a second hotel asset on the W192 tourism corridor. Carina Radonich and Ariel Tomat, who own a high-end construction company in Sunny Isles Beach, bought a distressed motel...

• Encore releases new details and images of SPECTRUM+ at Reunion Resort

  Encore Capital Management has released details and pricing information for SPECTRUM+, its new 296-unit resort condo community at Reunion Resort.  Encore, the master developer of Reunion, has increased the unit count from the original 288, first reported by GrowthSpotter in late 2017. The Boca Raton-developer...

• Pulte pays $3.3M for Westside land to expand vacation home resort

  Pulte Homes paid $3.3 million this week for 47 acres in the heart of Osceola's Westside corridor to expand its popular Windsor at Westside resort community. The homebuilder filed a Preliminary Subdivision Plan (PSP) and Site Development Plan (SDP) with Osceola County in May for the parcel at the...

• Tampa builder planning vacation townhomes at Tierra del Sol on U.S. 27

  A Tampa homebuilder who is rebooting the stalled Tierra Del Sol resort near ChampionsGate got a key approval last week to add vacation rental townhomes to the development. The Polk County Planning Commission approved the request from Bering Homes for Major Modification to the Planned Development...

More News

• Park Square Homes planning its second Neo mixed-use project in Four Corners

  Park Square Homes is prepping its second "Neo" branded mixed-use development on a 27-acre parcel in the heart of the Four Corners submarket. Senior Project Manager Robert Mick and his development team are scheduled to meet with Polk County's Development Review Committee this week to discuss preliminary...

• Texan scouts and finds site for wedding venue in Minneola hill country

  A Texan from that state’s hill country has bought a property in Lake County’s hill country to add on to his growing list of event venues around the south. Larry Kruzie, owner of Texas Old Town, bought 22.7 acres and a three-bedroom house at 20524 County Road 455, a designated scenic highway in...

• Orlando physician plans new mixed-use with hotel at NeoCity

  An Orlando gastroenterologist and real estate investor has filed plans with Osceola County for a mixed-use development on the E192 tech corridor in front of NeoCity. M. Asif Mohiuddin, who has a practice in St. Cloud, paid $1.2 million in 2016 the 3-acre lot with plans for a development to compliment...

• Hotel project kicks off Phase 1 of long-awaited Apopka City Center

  The long-anticipated Apopka City Center springs to life Thanksgiving week with groundbreaking on the Hilton Garden Inn hotel, the cornerstone of the 35-acre mixed-use development spanning the north and south sides of the interchange of State Road 436 and U.S. Highway 441. Taurus Southern Investments...

• UPDATED: National hotelier acquires Hilton flag near Sea World

  MCR, the nation's sixth-largest hotel operator, made its Orlando market entry this week with the $30.8 million purchase of the Hilton Garden Inn Orlando at SeaWorld. The 224-room hotel at is located at 6850 Westwood Boulevard, within walking distance to the theme park. The hotel offers free shuttle...

• Updated: Rare vacation-condo project in Orange to see 160 new units start rising next year

  A short-term-rental condominium project along Universal Boulevard is progressing through the entitlements process in Orange County, with the Ormond Beach-based Taiwanese investors who own the land looking to perform a lot split in order to proceed with construction of Reserve at Vista Cay early...

• South Florida hotelier investing millions for IHG conversions in tourism corridor

  After spending more than $33 million last year to buy two Disney-area hotels, Hollywood-based AD1 Global is now converting them from Choice brands to IHG flags. CFO Alex Fridzon told GrowthSpotter the company is spending a combined $13 million on renovations to comply with IHG brand standards. ...

• Tavistock eyes new hotel site at key Lake Nona interchange

  Tavistock Development Company is eyeing property at a key interchange of the S.R. 417 toll road in Lake Nona for a new hotel with up to 250 rooms. The Lake Nona master developer sent one of its top entitlements specialists to a meeting earlier this month with Orlando planning officials and owner/developer...

• Encore adding townhomes to Nicklaus-themed Bear's Den in Reunion

  The Jack Nicklaus-branded neighborhood on the famed golfer's namesake course in Reunion Resort, where home prices start at $1.2 million, is about to get townhomes. Encore Homes has filed a Preliminary Subdivision plan (PS) with Osceola County for Phase 3 of its gated Bear's Den at Reunion seeking...

• Park Square Homes secures $4M investment for Kissimmee resort community

  Park Square Homes has sold the final phase of its BellaVida Resort community for just less than $4 million to a local Chinese American brokerage that will take over sales and target international buyers. Park Square is wrapping up construction on the resort community's second phase and is in permitting...

More News

• Encore files plans for potential hospital site, vacation homes at Reunion Village

  Encore Capital Management is seeking entitlements for a 240-bed hospital and 96,000 square feet of office space as part of its mixed-use Reunion Village development at the I-4/ChampionsGate interchange. "Orlando Health is continuing to plan for the expansion of healthcare services in Osceola County,...

• New owners to spend at least $30M on massive renovation of Disney-area hotel

  The Sarasota-based hotel company that bought the former Magnuson Grand on Kissimmee's W192 tourism corridor is planning to spend anywhere from $30 million to $50 million on a full renovation and expansion, a company executive told GrowthSpotter. Marc Gagliardi, vice president of Kapstones Holding,...

• Boyland Auto reconsiders Mercedes-Benz dealership move in Orlando

  Mercedes-Benz of South Orlando has reconsidered its plan to relocate the luxury auto dealership near Mall of Millenia to a new site a mile away. Boyland Auto Group paid nearly $13.15 million last year for 23-acres on Millenia Boulevard east of the intersection of Interstate 4 and the Florida Turnpike....

• New select service Hilton flag headed to Millenia Boulevard

  An Apopka hotelier has filed plans for a new select-service hotel next to the planned Mercedes dealership south of Mall of Millenia. Akber Jamal, who last year sold two Orlando-area hotels, told GrowthSpotter he's planning to start construction on a 129-room Hilton Garden Inn just off Millenia...

• Groves developer details condo-hotel, vacation-townhome timelines

  BTI Partners is aiming for construction of vacation townhomes to begin about 18 months from now across the street from The Grove, as a third tower at the condo-hotel resort is expected to be complete next summer with input from owners at the first two towers providing guidance on design details....

• Multifamily, hotel entitlements sought for South I-Drive property

  The owner of the Caribe Royale resort is looking to add entitlements for 341 multifamily housing units, 300 hotel rooms and 100,000 square feet of commercial space to property it owns along South International Drive and State Road 536 in Orange County. Owner and developer Sierra Land Group, Inc....

• GreenTree readies plan for $300M infill redevelopment next to Amway Center

  Local developer Timothy Green has spent much of the last year assembling nearly two city blocks adjacent to downtown Orlando's Amway Center and will submit plans in October for a $300 million mixed-use entertainment district that highlights the neighborhood's rich cultural heritage. The filing...

• Osceola settles code enforcement case with key Disney-area land owner

  Osceola County Commissioners voted Monday to reduce code enforcement penalties against the owner of the Orlando Sun Resort & Spa by $560,344 and close the case against the long-vacant hotel. The move clears the way for the owner to proceed with a rezoning and DRI rescission for the property and...

• Magic to file revised master plan for downtown entertainment district

  With groundbreaking anticipated in 2019, the Orlando Magic and its new architect have revised the master plan for the long-anticipated Sports and Entertainment District across from the Amway Center and are actively seeking development partners for the hotel and multifamily components of the district....

• Magic Village resorts to be rebranded as Wyndham Trademark properties

  Orlando-based Magic Development and Wyndham Hotels & Resorts revealed the details of their new branding partnership on Tuesday, including relaunching the company's two vacation-home resorts as Wyndham Trademark Collection properties. Magic CEO Rodrigo Cunha told GrowthSpotter the company decided...