Disney's Celebration Residents OK Four Seasons' $200M Hotel

The 400-acre site is on the southern extension of Celebration Boulevard, south of World Drive, 20 miles south of Downtown Orlando.

Four Seasons hasn't closed the deal with Disney for the land, real estate lawyers familiar with the project tell GlobeSt.com on condition of anonymity. The Canadian developer still needs formal approval from Osceola County elected officials on the venture. The land deal closing hinges on the OK from the county.

The development would increase the total number of hotel rooms in the 10-year-old, northern Osceola County town that Walt Disney World Co. built 10 years ago to 1,539. Celebration Co., owned by Disney and headed by president Perry Reader, had sought to increase its hotel portfolio to 2,039 rooms from 1,039.

But Osceola County commissioners resolved a controversial six-month dispute this week between Disney and Celebration residents by approving 500 new rooms instead.

The Four Seasons project will be competing with two other new half-completed hotel ventures nearby--the 1,000-room JW Marriott Hotel and Marriott's 584-room Ritz Carlton, both off John Young Parkway in south Orange County. Average daily room rates at Four Seasons hotels are $330, according to Smith Travel Research Inc. of Hendersonville, TN.

Celebration Co. still has 1,200 acres left to sell for use as office, hotels or attractions. The dirt is across Interstate 4, west of Celebration.

Celebration recently sold 12 retail-zoned acres along U.S. 192 at Celebration Avenue to Orlando-based Unicorp National Developments Inc. for an estimated $78.4 million or $6.5 million per acre ($150 per sf). Unicorp plans a 120,000-sf retail center on the site.

Disney and Four Seasons officials couldn't be reached at GlobeSt.com's publication deadline to learn the contracted price of the 400 acres for the hotel project.

But area land brokers familiar with the Celebration submarket tell GlobeSt.com on condition of anonymity the dirt will probably go for $2 million per acre or $45.91 per sf for a total estimated price of $800 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 to construct, are construction industry estimators tell GlobeSt.com.