Hilton to Build Orlando CC Hotel
By Rachelle Crum -- Tradeshow Week, 4/10/2006
Orlando's Orange County Convention Center is the next in line for an attached hotel.
Hilton Hotels, in a joint venture with Apollo Real Estate Advisors and Rida Development, will develop the Hilton Orlando Convention Center, an 18-story, 1,400-room property. Apollo and Rida will be the majority owners of the hotel. Hilton will manage it and hold a minority ownership interest.
With more than 130,000 square feet of meeting space, the hotel will be located on 26 acres south of the OCCC and provide direct access to its north concourse by way of a pedestrian sky bridge. Construction is expected to begin by the end of the year and be completed in 2009.
Kathy Canning, convention center deputy general manager, said the Hilton Orlando would provide the existing center with a much needed supply of adjacent hotel rooms.
"It should give us a competitive edge, quite honestly," she said.
The OCCC currently offers more than 2 million sq. ft. of exhibit space.
Hilton President and CEO Matt Hart said the company was "proud and excited to be part of this project that will bring a much-needed convention center hotel to this vibrant market."
Rida President Ira Mitzner agreed, calling the property a "true full-service hotel that will not only serve as the flagship hotel for the convention center, but will also have a great leisure and spa component, allowing both conventioneers and leisure guests the opportunity to enjoy Orlando."
The hotel is the second partnership in Central Florida for Apollo and Rida, which also jointly developed the 1,500-acre ChampionsGate Resort.
The Peabody Orlando, one of the few hotels now within walking distance of the convention center, will benefit from the additional hotel, said Peabody spokeswoman MaureenBridget Gonzalez.
"Hilton is a good operation, and there's plenty of business in Orlando for everybody," she said.
Also coming up within walking distance to the convention center is the Village of Imagine, a condominium hotel being developed by Vancouver, British Columbia-based Intrawest.
