Based on acreage, the undertaking will be the second largest resort destination in Florida next to the 30,000-acre Disney empire in Osceola and Orange counties.

The project's formal unveiling Tuesday at one of the two already-completed 18-hole golf courses at the ChampionsGate site coincided with an announcement by Irving, TX-based Omni Hotels to open a $150 million, 732-room asset by year end 2002. Ground-breaking is scheduled for spring 2001. The estimated hard construction cost is $92 million.

Developing the entire project are two big industry players--Apollo Real Estate Advisors of New York and Houston-based Rida Development Corp. The property owner is Rida Associates, a limited partnership headed by Ira and Jacob Mitzner.

"This is not another industry-like cliché," Ira Mitzner tells GlobeSt.com, "but this project will be in a league by itself."

Complementing the Omni Hotel and the two golf courses will be 75,000 sf of retail; a 50,000-sf office building anchored by Meadowbrook Golf Co.; and a 372-unit luxury apartment complex.

At buildout, ChampionsGate will have a total 4,136 hotel rooms; three golf courses; 426,000 sf of retail; 1,636 resort villas/apartments; 148,104 sf of office; and 3,000 parking spaces.

Designing the Omni Hotel are RTKL Associates, the project architect; and Looney & Associates, the interior architect. Both are Dallas-based firms. The four-star hotel plans to offer 70,000 sf in 37 meeting rooms; 26,000-sf and 20,000-sf ballrooms; a 10,000-sf spa; and six restaurants.

The developers are bullish on the retail potential at ChampionsGate. They project sales will grow by 72% in the 1995-2005 period.

Instant Insights /

$600-Mil ChampionsGate Mixed-Use Venture Near Disney Off and Running

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