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Orlando Sees Mini Hotel Construction Boom

By Jennifer LeClaire

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MIAMI-There’s been a lot of talk about Miami Beach’s hotel market renaissance lately—and it’s bona fide. But there’s also an emerging movement a few hours north.

Indeed, Downtown Orlando has seen three major hotel announcements in October alone, bolstering the argument that Florida is experiencing a commercial real estate recovery faster than many expected.

Although developers are still taking a cautious view of future projects—and although the hospitality business is no exception—the tourism haven that is Orlando has become a safe bet in the eyes of some.

LeClaire

Here’s what’s happening in Orlando:

RIDA Development Corp., the company behind the Hilton Orlando and ChampionsGate, one of Orlando’s premier tourist and commercial destinations, just announced plans to build a $200 million mixed-use development in the heart of Orlando’s central business district. The development will include a signature hotel as the centerpiece of the first phase.

RIDA is essentially betting on mixed-use, like many developers pursuing new opportunities in Miami. The Orlando development will be unique to downtown because it connects directly to the main transit center for SunRail, a 61-mile commuter rail network scheduled to begin operating in 2014.

Beyond RIDA’s project, the Orlando Utilities Commission’s former headquarters is getting a makeover. The site is being redeveloped into a 119-room hotel under the banner of Starwood Hotels’ boutique Aloft brand. The new facility will cater to young urbanites, a strategy that Downtown Miami has played well in the wake of the condo boom that has seen yuppies flood the Magic City’s urban core.

Construction also is set to get under way on a $20 million, 155-room Cambria Suites near Downtown Orlando’s iconic Lake Eola Park. It will be the first newly built hotel Downtown since the upscale Grand Bohemian opened in 2001.

In September, Four Seasons and Resorts is planning a $360 million development. The luxury hotel brand has partnered with Silverstein Properties and Dune Real Estate Partners in a joint venture to develop a 444-room project at the Walt Disney World Resort. Construction is set to begin on what will be the largest Four Seasons resort in the world this December, with a target opening date in 2014.

Is it too soon for all of these developments, simultaneously even, to get underway? Or is Orlando the perennial vacation spot that makes it worth the risk?

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