ORLANDO-According to Paul Sexton, vicepresident of HREC Investment Advisors: “if youlook at the Central Florida market overall, we are back to 2007hotel occupancies.” The market seems to be bouncing back well, hesays, making the recent $4.2M sale of the 154-room Lexington Suitesfurther evidence of the area’s revitalization.

“We have really cleared a good portion of the distressedproperty we have in the market -especially in the InternationalDrive market,” Sexton says. And it seems the recent deal was noexception; the hotel property was bought byCanada Drive Hospitality, LLC from Dawn G,LLC which took ownership of the property byforeclosure in October 2010, according to a HREC release.

Additionally, Sexton explains that HREC havetwo other hotel properties “under construction” inthe market. The area is certainly tourist-friendly and theseconsumers are driving a lot of business, thanks to attractions likethe Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park and proposedexpansion to SeaWorld. “I think it was coincidence that HarryPotter opened when it did it - just at the right time - andkick-started everything,” Sexton says. He is optimistic aboutbusiness travel also, expressing that the nearby convention centershould see peak attendance in 2012. “We’re starting to run on allcylinders.”