County working with company to develop hotels at OHP, NeoCity
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SUBMITTED RENDERING Above is a rendering of the new hotel development Osceola County is working on with Riviera Point Development.
OSCEOLA COUNTY
Plans to develop four hotels on about 200 acres of county-owned land at Osceola Heritage Park and NeoCity are now underway.
The Osceola County Commission last month voted to work with Riviera Point Development Limited, out of Miramar, Fla. on the project.
Riviera Point will lease the land from the county for anywhere from 20 years to 99 years, said Kerry Godwin, director of planning and design for the county.
Tentative sites for the hotels include:
• Two adjoining sites near the corner of U.S. Highway 192 and Bill Beck Boulevard.
• One site near the northwest corner of U.S. Highway 192 and Fortune Road.
• One site at the NeoCity campus on U.S. Highway 192.
Godwin said the two smaller sites likely would be built first and that each would accommodate between 100 and 150 guests. The biggest hotel would be built on the northwest corner of 192 and Fortune Road and would accommodate between 250 and 400 guests.
The fourth “boutique” hotel would be built at NeoCity and would accommodate about 100 guests.
NeoCity is a technology park that the county developed and is located across the street from Osceola Heritage Park on U.S. Highway 192 in Kissimmee.
About 300 permanent jobs and at least 1,700 indirect jobs are expected to be created by the four hotels. The minimum salary would start at $45,000 and hourly workers would earn between $10 to 12 per hour, Godwin said.
The hotels will generate about $2 million per year in tourist development tax and $1.4 million per year in property tax, he said.
Riviera Point is expected to build a parking structure as part of the public-private partnership.
“We are doing it in a way where we’re supporting (Riviera Point’s) success and upholding the standards for OHP,” he said.
According to the company’s website, Riviera Point specializes in development financed through the U.S. EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program, which grants residential visas to people who spend at least $1.8 million on a U.S. business venture.
The county will not turn a profit on the deal, at least not until the project is a “proven success,” Godwin said.
The biggest initial return on investment for the county will be the tax revenue generated by the properties and the money visitors will spend locally, he said.
County staff currently is discussing the basic framework of the project with Riviera Point, including which brand the hotels will fall under.
Osceola Heritage Park includes an event center, the Silver Spurs Arena and Osceola County Stadium. Concerts, conferences, trade shows, banquets and meetings are held at OHP.
The complex also includes a building for the local University of Florida/Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences extension services.
In April, the B team of the Orlando City Soccer Club will start playing at the Osceola County Stadium.
“We’ve invested a lot in Osceola Heritage Park and the events keep growing there and the demands keep growing there, so this is the next logical step in that development,” said county spokesman Mark Pino.
Plans for the hotels include restaurants and other venues that would attract both the public and hotel guests.
Locals will benefit from having an even larger entertainment complex “in their own backyard,” he said.
