Siblings sell lakefront motel on W192 after getting offer they couldn't refuse

The brother and sister who inherited their parents' Golden Link Motel on Kissimmee's W192 corridor weren't looking to sell in late May. But when a broker approached them with a cash offer for nearly $2.4 million, they simply couldn't turn it down.

"I turned 50 this year, and I was ready for a change," Monica Jones told GrowthSpotter on Thursday.

She was 16 when her parents built the motel in 1984 and has worked there most of her adult life. Her brother, Reinhold Matay, was an equal partner. They took over the motel so their parents could retire, but both parents are now deceased, Jones said.

"It took a while to come to the decision," she said. "It was a labor of love. The hardest thing is letting go of the customers. We have multiple generations of customers -- people who came here in the 1980s and now they bring their kids or grandkids. It's bittersweet."

The 5.7-acre parcel is situated on Lake Cecile, at the intersection of U.S. 192 and Kissimmee-Vineland Road, across from a Publix-anchored shopping center.

The buyers are also siblings, Chinese-American brothers Chung Wah and Zhong Ping. They did not respond to requests for comment on Thursday.

"They go by the names Brian and John," Jones said. "One of the brothers, John, had lived in Germany and speaks German. That influenced my decision to sell, because my parents and my whole family speaks German. A lot of my clientele are from Germany, so it felt like a sign."

Jones said she and her brother have no plans to reinvest their proceeds from the sale into more real estate in the foreseeable future.

Have a tip about Central Florida development? Contact me at lkinsler@GrowthSpotter.com or (407)420-6261, or tweet me at @LKinslerOGrowth. Follow GrowthSpotter on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.