A mockup of what developers say the new hotel and convention center on the site of the current Kissimmee Civic Center will look like. (Photo/City of Kissimmee)
A new downtown Kissimmee hotel and convention center is coming closer to reality.
Talking about, and then finally approved, over the course of 2025, plans are finally coming together on the 10-story, 300-room hotel and modern convention center, which will be built by Azure Hotel International on the current surface parking lot at the site.
City officials installed a sign on the site that gives a conceptual look at what the $180 million project could be. If construction begins on time in 2026, the convention center could be delivered in late 2028 and the hotel completed in 2029, Azure officials have said.
The project will replace the Kissimmee Civic Center but leave the adjacent Multimodal Center and SunRail parking garage and Hart Memorial Library intact. Demolition of the Civic Center is expected to begin later this year, the city says.
The development will feature the 45,000-square-foot convention center, along with restaurants, retail space, and hospitality amenities city leaders say they feel confident will support economic growth and enhance Downtown Kissimmee.
The city estimates the development would generate $5– 6.5 million annually in property taxes, create 400 construction jobs, and provide between 150– 250 permanent hospitality jobs for local residents. The deal also includes the city receiving a profit share of the hotel’s net operating income, along with access to meeting space at no cost.
A second development project blocks away, a Skyview Company project, would feature a 128-room Sonesta Hotel, 20 condominium units, a rooftop restaurant and entertainment amenity, new city park and commercial space that will likely attract a grocery store to serve those condominiums and the rest of a growing downtown resident population. That was approved in July 2025 at the same meeting commissioners approved the Azure project, although hospitality industry leaders sharply criticized the plan, saying it would create only about 30 local jobs. They said a Hyatt Hotel also proposed would have created over 100 jobs, but commissioners didn’t see the mixed-use commercial offerings, like the grocery store, included to support permanent residents living in those condos.
Skyview is also developing The Allen apartment project near HCA Florida Osceola Hospital.
