Through their family-operated company, LLI Management Co. LLC, the Williams family has contracted with Orlando-based CNL Hotels & Resorts Inc. to buy the waterfront property for $24.5 million. The deal includes $13 million in cash and the assumption of an $11.5-million leasehold obligation that CNL had with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.A closing is expected in 45 days.

In a prepared statement, CNL Hotels & Resorts CEO Thomas J. Hutchison III says the deal gives CNL a net gain of $12.4 million. CNL expects to use the proceeds from the sale primarily to retire existing long-term debt and may also use the funds "for selective future acquisitions of luxury resorts and upper-upscale properties," Hutchison says.

"This transaction furthers our strategy to focus on recycling capital through the selective disposition of non-strategic assets, now totaling $498 million in sales year-to-date," Hutchison adds.

Williams previously agreed to pay CNL $14.5 million for the leasehold rights, as GlobeSt.com reported Aug. 12. The leasehold rights figure began as a $9-million amount the former KSL Lake Lanier Inc. agreed to pay the Georgia DNR and the Lake Lanier Islands Development Authority in 1996 to operate the resort. However, when CNL purchased Lake Lanier Islands Resort through its acquisition of KSL Recreation Corp. in July 2004, the leasehold rights amount jumped to $11.5 million. CNL also acquired the 254-room Renaissance PineIsle Resort before closing the sale with the Williams family company, Hutchison says.

Besides the Renaissance property, Lake Lanier Islands Resorts includes the 216-room Emerald Pointe Resort, the 30-villa LakeHouses on Lanier, PineIsle Resort and Golf Club, a summertime beach and water park, an 18-hole golf course, an equestrian center and the Harbor Landing marina. Marketing sources familiar with the resort tell GlobeSt.com Williams plans to invest another $5 million in upgrading the entire enclave.