Orlando: Bonnet Creek adding fourth hotel property

[Marti]

Bonnet Creek adding fourth hotel property
Posted on June 19, 2006

Orlando Business Journal - LAKE BUENA VISTA -
There's at least one more ace up Bonnet Creek Resort's sleeve.

Dan Paris, senior vice president of Brooksville Development Corp., developer of the the 482 prime acres inside Walt Disney World, says another "medium-size hotel by a local developer"
will be announced soon. He declined to provide the name.

Still, the anticipated news comes on the heels of Bonnet Creek's other recent coups:

The 400-room Wyndham Lake Buena Vista Hotel and Spa

A 1,000-room Hilton Hotel

A 500-room Waldorf-Astoria -- the first ever built outside New York City --
also announced by Hilton Hotels Corp.

The additions, including the unnamed property, would likely bring the eventual
room inventory at Bonnet Creek to nearly 4,000 upscale units, including time share, conventional hotel and possibly condominium-hotel rooms.

Brooksville acquired the land from World-Union-Cayman Ltd. in April 2000
and, as the master developer, is creating a mixed-use resort with amenities
to complement the visitor experience, given its ideal location, Paris has told
Orlando Business Journal.

The resort area will include a shared 18-hole golf course,
designed by Rees Jones, and a 10-acre lake.

Shared spa & meeting space

The three recently announced hotels with 1,900 rooms are in addition to the sizable,
and rapidly growing, Fairfield Resorts time share project already under development.

The Wyndham hotel will become part of the first mixed-use venture between the Wyndham Hotel Group and Wyndham Vacation Ownership Inc., both subsidiaries of the proposed Wyndham Worldwide company being spun off by Cendant Corp.

A June 7 announcement said construction is scheduled to start in the third quarter, with an opening in early 2009.

On May 31, Hilton Hotels revealed plans for a complex to include the 1,000-room Hilton and the Waldorf-Astoria. The project is currently in design, with groundbreaking set for the end of this year. Opening is slated for mid-2009.

The original Waldorf in New York will provide much of the theming for the resort,
with its art deco influences.

A separate convention center will house 115,000 square feet of meeting space.

Up and running

Already occupied at the Fairfield Orlando at Bonnet Creek Resort are
256 time share units with another 122 opening at the end of July.

The Mediterranean-style resort has three towers and a village center building,
with six more additional towers planned. At buildout, Fairfield is designed for 1,594 units.

A Wyndham Vacation Ownership spokeswoman says the original 2003 plan called
for buildout in eight to 10 years, but that the schedule has accelerated.

Franz Hanning, president and CEO of Wyndham Vacation Ownership Inc., says the company's blueprint for growth is to combine its time share and conventional hotel products, both of which carry the Wyndham brand, in a number of resort and urban locations.

Being looked at are the Caribbean, where Wyndham's brand is strongest, as well as Hawaii, Las Vegas and even an urban time share and hotel product in downtown locations in major U.S. cities. "Wherever it makes sense," Hanning says.

Hanning won't put a price tag on the Orlando hotel, saying it's not far enough
along in design. It will function as housing for potential buyers or existing members interested in an upgrade.

While a Hilton spokeswoman says the Waldorf will have a special appeal to the upscale traveler who seems to be finding Orlando a more desirable destination,
the bulk of year-round business is expected to be meetings and conventions,
with senior management or the most important clients housed in the higher-priced property.

Hanning says Hilton is a welcome addition to Bonnet Creek, noting that its primarily business-oriented clientele might be attracted to take a peek at the Wyndham time share product while they are visiting.