Toronto's Four Seasons Plans $200M Resort at Disney's Celebration

Four Seasons and Disney officials couldn't be reached at GlobeSt.com's publication deadline to learn details of the deal. However, Celebration Co. president Perry Reader confirmed the land contract in a private letter to Celebration residents. They are anxious to learn of a transaction that could affect their quality of life in the near-future, local brokers tell GlobeSt.com.

Brokers and consultants following the Osceola County hospitality market and construction industry estimators tell GlobeSt.com on condition of anonymity the 400 acres will probably go for $1 million per acre ($22.96 per sf) or a total $40 million. The 450 hotel rooms are expected to come in at about $300,000 per room or a total $135 million. The 125 timeshare units will cost at least $200,000 per unit or $25 million.

The land deal would be Disney World's largest in its 32-year presence at Lake Buena Vista, FL. The late Walt Disney and his associates secretly bought up 30,000 acres in 1965 and 1966 at an average price of $200 per acre or a quarter of a cent per sf, according to Orange County real estate records and published reports at the time Disney World opened in October 1970.

The Four Seasons site is outside of Celebration's core residential/commercial/retail area. The project is slated to be built on the southern extension of Celebration Boulevard, south of World Drive. Osceola County elected officials have to sign off on a development order before the undertaking could break ground, probably in 2003 with completion in 2005, area brokers estimate.

The only Four Seasons hotel property in Florida is in Palm Beach. The developer plans to open a hotel in Miami in 2003. Four Seasons operates 53 hotels in 24 countries.

Four Seasons' development plans on a Disney property come at a time when the entire hospitality industry is recovering from low occupancy and room-rate revenue following 9-11.

The project also will be direct competition for Gaylord Palms Resort, the 1,406-room, $404 million property Nashville, TN-based Gaylord Entertainment opened Feb. 2 in Kissimmee, FL, one mile from the main entrance to Walt Disney World.

Four Seasons will also face rivalry from Marriott International Inc. which is simultaneously constructing a 584-room, $12 million Ritz Carlton Hotel and a 1,000-room, $15 million JW Marriott Hotel off John Young Parkway in south Orange County, about 20 miles from the Four Seasons site.