Officials, union members looking for projects benefitting both sides
Stating that the City Commission is looking for projects that are “just right” like in the Goldilocks fable, Kissimmee officials asked developers who have submitted plans for downtown hotel projects to rework and resubmit them in 30 days.
In recent months the city received four unsolicited proposals, two each at the Kissimmee Civic Center and Toho Square (surrounding the current city parking garage). At Tuesday’s Commission meeting, city leaders discussed the pros and cons of each. In general, the plans include hotels of 120 to 300 rooms, with rehabs of the Civic Center.
One of the proposals, from Skyview Companies, features 113 extended day suites, a plan sharply criticized by members of the Unite 737 hospitality workers union, who filled the Commission chambers Tuesday to oppose a plan that would only generate about 30 jobs, and put a project in downtown Kissimmee akin to something on the maligned U.S. Highway 192 corridor.
“We’re trying to fix 192, not duplicate it,” Commissioner Angela Eady said. “We’re trying to take the city to a higher level. We need a hotel. And if we’re creating space for permanent residents, we desperately need a grocery store and related retail as part of it.”
The other plans would create 100-250 permanent jobs and hundreds of other temporary ones, according to plans filed with the city.
City leaders are expected to eventually approve a plan at each location. In a separate project, the city is working with the Hyatt Group to also build a hotel adjacent to Kissimmee Gateway Airport.
As the projects were discussed, it became clear Tuesday commissioners found things they liked, and things lacking, in each project. For example, plans from Azure and the Interessant Hotels and Resort Management (IHRMC) included plans for a 120 or 300-room hotel, and commissioners asked for something in the middle.
The Toho Square plans called for 300 rooms across two Hyatt Hotels on opposite sides of the existing parking structure, and Skyview’s extended day units.
While Commissioner Carlos Alvarez urged he wanted to see “something grand”, as the city will be eventually competing with what gets constructed at NeoCity to the immediate east, Commissioner Noel Ortiz asked for units that residents, especially seniors, could purchase for long-term housing.
“I want to see something for sale, to promote the American Dream,” Ortiz said.
Ella Wood, who represents Unite 737, said there are hundreds of union members who live close to downtown Kissimmee but work at Disney-area hotels many miles away and are clamoring for a chance to work at a higher-end location close to home.
“The (Hyatt) project gives one shot at a vision that brings everything,” she told commissioners.
Others who spoke during public comment Tuesday urged the city to lease, rather than sell, the land to keep ownership local. The Commissioners all said the city will continue to own a refurbished Civic Center — it has already budgeted $10 million for renovating it.
Mayor Jackie Espinosa proposed the 30-day resubmittal period, noting none of the current plans fit the downtown Kissimmee of today.
“But, there are people who are interested in Kissimmee,” she said. “We need to go to the drawing board, and communicate what we want,” she said. “We lack housing. We are in a position to change this, and make it the best for our city.”
Among the highlights of the plans:
At the Civic Center, Azure proposed a $147 million investment that includes a 300-room hotel with 20,000 square feet of meeting space and 3,000 square feet of restaurant space. It would demolish the existing Civic Center and build a new "modern Convention Center." The project would create 150-250 permanent jobs. The company asked for a tax abatement of five years. If approved in the short term, the company said construction could begin in 2026 and the facility would be ready to open in 2029.
IHMRC proposed a 120-room Hilton Garden hotel that would create over 100 jobs. It asked for the $10 million the city set aside to renovate the Civic Center, and the company asked for a two-year tax abatement.
At Toho Square, Kissimmee Place Development Group (KPDG) offered up a 300 rooms across two Hyatt Place hotels at the corners of the property, and 5,000 feet of conference space, a $200 million investment.
The Skyview project, from the developers of The Allen mixed-use residential project across Martin Luther King Boulevard from HCA Florida Osceola Hospital, would feature the extended-stay suites with full kitchens. Sonesta Extended Stay at Lake Toho would also develop a “pocket park” on Monument Avenue, with a retail market on the first floor. Its proposal said it would generate $800,000 annual income to the city, and the permitting, design and construction process would be 18 months.
The city initially put out an RFP (Request for Proposals) to developers, with the idea of reworking the space in and around the 30-year-old Civic Center in June 2023. Commissioners rejected an IHRMC proposal in January 2024, noting it asked for excessive incentives, and as it was the only submission received it eliminated the city’s ability to evaluate alternatives and weigh them against each another.
