American Leisure Breaks Ground on Estimated $388M Resort

The developer, American Leisure Holdings Inc. of Saddle Brook, NJ, says 625 condominium homes and townhouses have already been pre-sold for a total $200 million or an average $300,000 per home. The 122-acre resort near Interstate 4 and US 27 is scheduled to open in 2006.

Boston-based Sonesta International Hotels Corp. will manage the resort which will have a 100,000-sf clubhouse with concierge and a high-tech Internet access program that is costing the developer $43 million to install. American Leisure Hospitality Group Inc. of Orlando signed the management deal with Sonesta. The resort will have two-, three- and four-bedroom luxury homes.

"This resort will be among the first vacation home destinations in the nation to provide its owners and guests with a Comtech fiber network, enabling ultra-high speed wired and wireless Internet access for IP communication for voice, data and video entertainment," Malcolm J. Wright, president, American Leisure Holdings, says in a prepared statement.

The resort is American Leisure's first in the metro area. The developer selected the area because "Orlando is the second largest hotel market in the US and we believe this extraordinary resort, with its oversized guest accommodations, location and quaint village ambiance will be an attractive destination for visitors," says Stephanie Sonnabend, president of Sonesta International Hotels Corp.

The resort is being developed by the vacation homes division of American Leisure Holdings. The division is working closely with its travel division and Hickory Travel Systems Inc. The Sonesta Orlando at Tierra del Sol Resort is Sonesta's fourth Florida property. The other three properties in South Florida are at Key Biscayne, Coconut Grove and Sunny Isles Beach.