Hotel & Hospitality Developments

• Timeshare expansion at Wyndham's Worldmark I-Drive resort underway

  Wydham Destinations breaks ground today on a multi-million dollar expansion and renovation of its Kingstown Reef Resort on Orlando's International Drive scheduled to open in late 2020. The two 4-story buildings will comprise 87 new timeshare units, more than doubling the size of the existing Florida...

• ComTerra plans EVEN and Staybridge Suites hotel along Universal Blvd.

  Estero-based ComTerra Development Group is progressing on its 20-acre Destination Shoppes at Universal mixed-use project with the introduction of a dual-branded EVEN and Staybridge Suites hotel.  According to a Development Plan application filed with Orange County on Tuesday, the developer wants...

• Venetian Isle mixed-use medical campus in Leesburg expands

  The development team behind a 50-acre medical mixed-use campus next to Leesburg Regional Medical Center has just added another 4.2 acres to expand across Dixie Avenue. Tony Benge, with Benge Development, told GrowthSpotter the partners paid $725,000 to the Lake County School District for the former...

• New extended-stay Marriott hotel underway in revitalized SoDo area near medical center

  The widespread resurgence of Orlando’s South Downtown, or SoDo, district is continuing with a second new hotel rising near the Orlando Regional Medical Center. Tampa-based HG Management recently broke ground on the $28.3 million TownePlace Suites by Marriott at 51 Columbia St. The 73,000-square-foot...

• Golden Corral franchisee is assembling land for new hotel in Winter Park

  Golden Corral franchisee Eric Holm is honing in on his development skills and pursuing plans for a new boutique hotel on Winter Park's Lake Killarney.  Holm, a resident of the city, said he's teaming up with a private investment group to purchase several properties along the busy S. Orlando Avenue...

• Brazilian-American firm planning $72M condo resort in Kissimmee area

  Primeland Development, a Brazilian-American real estate firm based in Miami, is making its Orlando market entry with an ambitious $72 million condo resort property on Livingston Road in Kissimmee. "We are very excited about this property," Primeland CFO Karen Costa told GrowthSpotter on Wednesday....

• New Comfort Inn & Suites is part of a wave of new hotels in or near Sanford

  A new Comfort Inn & Suites hotel coming to East Lake Mary Boulevard is among at least half a dozen hotels either announced or under construction in and around the bustling Seminole County city of Sanford. Hickman Enterprises, a small Winter Park real estate and development company, plans to build...

• Pulte confirms plans for new vacation home resort in Four Corners

  Pulte Homes has found a landing spot for a vacation home business that is outgrowing its Westside Corridor space.  Orlando Division Director Clint Ball told GrowthSpotter the homebuilder expects to close this summer on 151 acres on Sand Mine Road, on the Polk County side of the county line. He...

• Magnolia hotel design sails through Orlando ARB courtesy review

  Maybe it was the lecture from Planning Director Dean Grandin at the start of the meeting, or the design tweaks by Baker Barrios, but in either case a planned 19-story mixed-use tower sailed through Orlando's Appearance Review Committee with only minor comments. Grandin told the ARB members they...

• Developer files plans for new mixed-use timeshare project along South I-Drive

  Developer Vincent Desai is looking to build a new mixed-use project along South I-Drive that can introduce up to 708 new timeshare units to the rapidly growing tourism sector there.  Robby Joshi of the architecture firm ARCHENICS filed a pre-app request with Orange County to discuss development...

More News

• Ohio hotelier planning a new Staybridge Hotel near UCF campus

  Toledo-based Key Hotel & Property Management looks to be eyeing a second hotel site near UCF after entering the Orlando market in late 2018. Last December Key affiliate Ultra LLC bought property near SeaWorld that had county-approved plans for a pair of 135-key, extended-stay hotels. Ultra paid...

• Deal for $20M sports complex on W192 falls through, land back on market

  The developer of a proposed sports complex on Osceola's W192 tourism corridor couldn't close the deal despite a $20 million commitment from the county, officials confirmed to GrowthSpotter. That leaves the county without a replacement site for its softball complex in Kissimmee, which Commissioners...

• Atlanta resort operator buys Reunion Resort, plans new hotel + wave pool

  Kingwood International Resorts purchased the AAA Four Diamond-rated Reunion Resort on Friday and released an ambitious expansion plan of the Disney-area golf destination. Specializing in golf-centered clubs and resorts, Atlanta-based Kingwood International currently owns and operates Kingwood Country...

• Georgia hotel firm buys subdivided land near I-Drive, plans new Cambria hotel

  A joint venture between Georgia-based HOS Management, and Hawkeye Hotels just paid $3 million for a parking lot in the International Drive corridor with plans develop a new hotel under the Choice Hotels' Cambria brand. A representative from HOS Management said they plan to break ground on a 140-room...

• Fort Myers equity firm planning downtown hotel with penthouse condos

  Fort Myers-based Conor Acquisitions has filed plans with the City of Orlando for a new, 19-story mixed-use tower downtown that would be anchored by a 256-key Radisson Blu luxury hotel. Radisson launched the "upper upscale" Blu brand in Europe, Asia and the Middle East, and has more than 300 hotels...

• Magistrate ruling would allow 10-story hotel across from Universal theme parks

  A special magistrate recommendation would allow a Miami hotelier to build a 10-story hotel near the intersection of Kirkman and Vineland roads, across from Universal's Orlando theme parks. Orlando's Municipal Planning Board and City Council has twice rejected the plans, which seek to increase the...

• Former Ramada Downtown Orlando hotel sells for $6.6M, closes temporarily

  St. Petersburg-based hotel investors just sold the former Ramada Orlando Downtown for $6.6 million. That’s a 27 percent gain from its previous selling price of $4.8 million in May.  Built in 1972, the five-story, 205-key hotel at 3155 S. John Young Parkway was sold by brothers Waleed and Sami Anani...

• 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...

More News

• 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...

• 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...