Downtown Kissimmee in Line for Facelift

Kissimmee, FL, a 100-year-old cattle ranching bastion with a permanent population of 41,248 and five miles from Walt Disney World, is about to get a Downtown facelift.

Winter Construction wants to buy the 85-year-old Brahman Hotel for a so-far undisclosed price and replace it with a 10-story, 140-room hotel. The inn’s hard cost construction value is estimated at $12 million.

Winter also plans to build a three-story parking garage; create a new exterior for the Republic Bank building; and put $2 million into restoring the Arcade Theater, another 85-year-old property that would be used by the Osceola Center for the Arts.

The hotel, on Broadway and Dakin Avenue, would be the tallest structure in the city which is 20 miles south of Downtown Orlando. Winter would like to break ground on the project by mid-2001 and complete the job within a year if current purchase negotiations are completed satisfactorily.

The hotel would be built on land that serves as a parking lot for Republic Bank building customers.