Florida Hospitality

Florida Hospitality Projects Keep Humming Along

By Debra Wood

An abundance of discriminating travelers seeking luxury accommodations in the Sunshine State are driving a demand for renovation and expansion of existing properties and construction of new hotels and condo-hotels.

"It's a more upscale market, and we are not seeing a slowdown," says Bruce Mosteller, associate vice president and managing director of the Orlando office of design firm Wimberly, Allison, Tong & Goo. "We're seeing brands wanting to reinvent themselves and refurbish themselves and go in new directions and create new prototypes."

Mosteller says the firm has experienced a consistent upswing in the supply of clients-developers building new product and existing properties wanting to upgrade to better compete with the new entities.

"The focus for the last several years has been the amenity list," Mosteller says. "We're seeing interactive water sports, spas and specialty retailers like Starbucks."

Deron Brown, district manager and vice president of PCL Construction Services of Orlando, reports "tons of activity in design and engineering of projects," primarily midrange and larger. He speculates that construction costs may remain too high for developers to build budget properties.

"We're seeing some renovations," Brown says. "Major hotel chains are updating their facilities, maybe knocking out a wall, turning rooms into suites, and there's a handful of new projects trying to come online in the next couple of years. These are stand-alone resort hotels."

Upgraded or new properties are including more data lines, wireless technology and energy efficiencies in their designs, says George Fletcher, CEO of the Adache Group Architects of Fort Lauderdale.

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Renovations and Expansions

PCL began work in January 2006 on a $50-million-plus, 300,000-sq-ft, exhibit-hall expansion project at the Orlando World Center Marriott.

"There's never enough space in this market," says Tim Swan, director of marketing for the Orlando World Center. "Meeting space is what drives occupancy in this hotel because it is a convention hotel. The more space available, the more opportunity we have for booking groups. The more square footage you have for each guest room, the more flexibility you can offer clients for their meeting needs. "

The structural-steel and concrete addition will increase the meeting space to 400,000 sq ft for 2,000 rooms. The addition will house a 105,000-sq-ft, column-free ballroom, prefunction spaces and food service areas. Fourteen trusses, each approximately 250 ft long, span the ballroom.

"It's a two-crane pick," says Rick Goldman, PCL project manager. "We consider that a critical pick, with a lot of engineering and planning involved to make sure no errors or mistakes are made."

Structural engineers from Walter P. Moore & Associates of Atlanta engineered the structure, which will connect to the existing hotel and to the existing parking garage. As part of the job, PCL built a new parking facility for resort employees, rerouted an access road and relocated and installed underground utilities. The project was roughly 50% complete in December, and Goldman expects to finish the work by November.

One of the state's biggest hotel expansions is located in South Florida, where the Fontainebleau Hilton Resort of Miami Beach shut down in May for a $500 million renovation and meeting space expansion.

"We were no longer the leader in the industry in South Florida," says Leo Carrillo, vice president of facilities for the Fontainebleau, explaining why the property undertook the construction program. "We saw ourselves for the first time having to fight for business. This will assure us we will be the preferred destination again."

Demolition work has begun but a general contractor has not been hired to bring the existing structures up to today's standards and build a 100,000-sq-ft meeting facility with a column-free ballroom and a health spa.

In the historic building, designed by Morris Lapidus, plans call for preserving the 18-ft-tall, marble-clad columns. But on the upper floors, crews will take out everything, down to the slab and exterior walls. Rooms will be reconfigured to allow guests to view the ocean from the bed and to incorporate marble and granite showers, Carrillo says.

The renovated resort should reopen early in 2008.

Also at the Fontainebleau, Turnberry Associates of Aventura, Fla., is building a 20-story, 288-unit condo-hotel called the Ocean Club. CondoHotels.com lists selling prices from $699,000 to $780,000.

A Boom in Condo-hotels

Condo-hotels continue to be a hot trend, though for only certain properties. Adache's Fletcher calls condo-hotels a trend in key markets, such as Miami and Orlando. He adds that the format appeals to investment-minded travelers and helps developers secure financing for projects.

"Baby boomers travel more than they used to and have disposable income to purchase property in various locations, and they get a return on their investment," Fletcher says. "They have all the services and bells and whistles that go with a hospitality component, with room service, maids and housekeeping services."

Adache designed the 1,260-room hotel and condo-hotel and 994-unit residential condominiums at Palazzo del Lago InterContinental Hotel & Residences Orlando, an $800 million development with five 18-story towers. Prices for the condo-hotel rooms start from the low $400,000s.

Also in Orlando's attraction area, Hardin Construction Co. of Orlando began construction last spring on the 437,100-sq-ft, 463-unit Westin Imagine Orlando Residences at The Village of Imagine, across from the Orange County Convention Center. The Westin is the first of three planned phases at the 30-acre, master-planned resort complex developed by Intrawest Corp. of Vancouver, British Columbia. It is scheduled to wrap up in early 2008.

CMA Cos. of Miami has hired PCL to perform preconstruction services on The Blue Rose, a $1 billion, 1,500-room, 39-story resort in Orlando. The complex will include a 1,000-seat theater, 75,000 sq ft of meeting space, a spa and private pool facilities. Units start in the mid-$300,000s.

CMA plans to break ground in early to mid-2007, according to spokesperson Dave Spector. PCL also is providing preconstruction services for a condo-hotel at Ruby Lake in Lake Buena Vista, near Walt Disney World.

Brown says that despite the large number of rooms already in Orlando, the area needs more lodging properties near the convention center. During a major show, people sometimes need to stay 15 mi away, he adds.

Stiles Construction Co. of Fort Lauderdale wrapped up construction late last year on one of the more prominent condo-hotel projects, the $65 million, 25-story, 333-unit Q Club Resort and Residences at Fort Lauderdale Beach.

Stiles Project Manager Randy Cerra says a certain percentage of the units would go into hotel inventory operated by Hilton. Units range in price from the $300,000s to more than $2 million.

The 650,000-gross-sq-ft, post-tensioned concrete building sits on approximately 800 auger-cast piles. The 26,000-sq-ft recreational deck includes a 360-degree infinity-edge pool with Egyptian stone. As with other new, upscale properties, it includes restaurants, exercise facilities, meeting spaces and high-end fixtures and finishes in the individual units.

Work started on the Q Club in July 2004. Stiles lost a month of productivity related to Hurricane Wilma, which damaged one of the two tower cranes. The project also experienced cost problems related to a mechanical-electrical redesign to increase HVAC capacity.

Stiles also is building the Trump International Hotel & Tower, a $200 million, 24-story, 298-unit condo-hotel in Fort Lauderdale. It will include an oceanfront pool and deck, 5,000-sq-ft health club and spa, function space and a four-level valet parking garage. Prices range from $500,000 to more than $3 million. Completion is scheduled for early 2008.

Also in South Florida, Bovis Lend Lease of Miami is renovating the former 16-story Carillon hotel in North Miami Beach into a condo-hotel managed by Canyon Ranch Living of Tucson, Ariz.

The $120 million, 692,000-sq-ft project includes construction of a 22-story, 143-unit condominium tower connected to the hotel by a new five-story, 60,000-sq-ft spa and fitness area, restaurants, pools and meeting space.

Some industry watchers speculated about whether condo-hotels are here to stay.

"I'm not too sure the brands have bought into condo-hotels," Mosteller says. "We've started some but not completed any at this point. If any market is falling off, it is that market. People don't understand what to do with it and how to make it work."

Canyon Ranch Living
http://www.canyonranch.com

The Westin Imagine Orlando Residences
http://www.westinimagine.com/

The Q Club Resort and Residences
http://www.qclubresort.com/

Palazzo del Lago InterContinental Hotel & Residences Orlando
http://palazzodellago.com

The Blue Rose
http://www.thebluerose.com/