Lake Eve Resort Trades in Hot Orlando Tourism Market

ORLANDO—Lake Eve Resort, a 364-bedroom property sitting on nine acres near Orlando theme parks, has new owners. A joint venture between The Arden Group, Eightfold Real Estate Capital and Hostmark Hospitality Group has acquired the resort.

The joint venture is investing a total of $24 million. That price includes the cost of upgrades to the guest rooms, lobby, exterior lighting and signage, and expanding the pool area with a new children’s water park.

“It’s a great time to invest in an Orlando resort, as the market has recovered and started to grow again,” Craig A. Spencer, president and CEO of Arden, tells GlobeSt.com. “In 2011, Orlando had 55 million visitors, which is about 5% above 2010’s vacation numbers. The numbers for 2012 are on track to be even better. And Orlando is expecting 15% job growth over the next five years. These are all strong signs of a solid and growing market.”

According to a study conducted by PFK Hospitality Research, the revenue per available room in Orlando during 2011 increased 9.9%. That’s 1.7% higher than the national average. With these statistics in mind, the investment is consistent with Arden’s strategy of sourcing and investing in opportunities for value creation.

Before deciding on the Lake Eve Resort, Arden passed on over 50 other potential deals. This month, the firm also closed on a Westin in Atlanta’s Perimeter North Hotel. In 2013, Arden plans to acquire five or six more hotels.

“Lake Eve Resort is ideally situated between Disney World and Universal, close to Sea World and to one of the world’s busiest convention centers,” Spencer says. “Also, the asset is well designed and constructed. Originally, it was developed as a condo-hotel so it’s made up of mostly two and three bedroom units, which we think will give us a distinct competitive advantage.”