ORLANDO, Florida—With Orlando average occupancy up nearly 10% from last year, it’s no wonder hotel projects previously put on hold (some mid-construction) are now finding solid financing and are set to complete before the year’s end.
Hotels such as the JW Marriott Grande Lakes Resort, Rosen Shingle Creek Resort and Homewood Suites by Hilton-Nearest Universal Studios are in various planning stages for room expansions. And new hotel projects that seemed to go comatose during the recession are now getting a second chance at life. Certainly, some projects such as the 150-room Aloft Hotel Orlando Convention Center have been abandoned, but with Orlando ranking third with 2,143 rooms under construction, there is more chatter on the active side of Orlando’s pipeline.
Wyndham Grand Orlando Resort Bonnet Creek
Originally announced in 2006 during the height of the building boom, construction on the 400-room luxury Wyndham property was put on hold during the construction phase because of financing hurdles and a suffering economy.
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| Wyndham Grand Orlando Resort Bonnet Creek (click to enlarge.) |
Meanwhile, two other Bonnet Creek properties, Hilton Bonnet Creek and the Waldorf-Astoria, completed construction and opened in October of 2009. The Wyndham Grand Resort sat unfinished in Lake Buena Vista for nearly two years before gaining enough momentum and financing to proceed toward an opening date.
The Wyndham Grand Orlando Resort, located within the pearly gates of Walt Disney World, features 400 rooms and suites, 20,000 square feet of meeting and event space, four food & beverage outlets, resort-style pool, Blue Harmony spa and 18-hole championship golf course. The Wyndham Grand Orlando Resort is connected to a time-share resort and is set to open in October.
Palazzo del Lago
After its conception in 2006, Palazzo del Lago, a US$1.2-billion luxury mixed-use hotel development, quickly fell behind its 2009 opening date. In 2006, the US$1.5-million sales center opened on International Drive, but the volume of sales trickling in for Palazzo’s 800 luxury condos could not sustain the kind of capital needed to keep the project on schedule.
A long and inactive year passed before Hotel Development Group could grasp a US$45-million loan from Inland American to complete predevelopment work. The Palazzo del Lago is a planned 2,015-room complex including a 1,215-room InterContinental Hotel. Plans for the 41-acre Palazzo include 120,000 square feet of meeting space, a beach, retail space and a 17,000-square-foot spa.
Progress for this development has been placed on hold indefinitely, pending a turn in the economy.