Some property owners in the Lake Bryan area near Disney have recently swapped out hotel entitlements in favor of apartments, but one owner is pursuing another path.
Kimley-Horn, on behalf of ZES International, LLC, an entity tied to Orlando-based attorney Zachary Stoumbos, filed plans with Orange County on Monday requesting approval to build a hotel with 280 rooms and 20,000 square feet of commercial/retail space at 14445 State Rd. 535, adjacent to the Caribe Royale Resort.
Orange County approved entitlements for 280 hotel rooms and 20,000 square feet of commercial space for the property in 1992, when it established the Paradise Hotel PD. The hotel project never moved forward, but the entitlements remained in place until 2023, when the county approved a separate filing for 177 apartment units on the property.
New York-based Alpine Residential was previously under contract to purchase the roughly 6-acre site with plans to build an apartment complex with three buildings, a dog park, and a central amenity area with a pool.
Stoumbos and representatives for Alpine Residential weren’t immediately available to comment, but the new application indicates that the multifamily project is no longer moving forward. The latest filing would restore the previous entitlements, but further details aren’t yet known.
Mexican developer MB Signature Properties plans to break ground on a nearby timeshare tower on the western side of Lake Bryan next year and complete construction in 2028. The 18-story MB Resort, slated for 4.4 acres at 13651 S. Apopka Vineland Rd., is expected to have outdoor amenities such as a pool, a splash park, seating, and fire pits. Inside, there will be a hotel lobby, a gift shop, a restaurant, and a bar on the ground floor, along with an arcade room, a bowling alley, a coworking space, a gym, a spa, and a rooftop with views of Disney and the surrounding area.
Earlier this month, MB Signature Properties announced that its launch phase had completed $100 million in sales and a 25% pre-construction sell-out of the future tower. The fractional ownership units are being marketed primarily towards international investors from Latin America.
MB Resort is set to open in 2028 on the western side of Lake Bryan. (Rendering from MB Signature Properties)
A few other property owners in the Lake Bryan area have moved away from hotel and timeshare projects in favor of multifamily in recent years. For example, developer and property owner Freddie Schinz of Destin-based Tiforp Development Corporation requested approval earlier this year to build 250 apartments in a seven-story building south of the Blue Heron Beach Resort and north of the future MB Resort. Ohio-based Silver Hills Development, led by Seth Mendelsohn, would be the developer, and the county is still reviewing the request.
Silver Hills Development was also behind an application in 2022 to convert entitlements for 555 hotel rooms to 588 multifamily units and 23,530 square feet of commercial use south of the future MB Resort at 13725 and 13775 S Apopka Vineland Rd. According to application materials, the developer would build a 12-story tower to accommodate that level of density. The county approved the application in 2023, but Silver Hills Development still hasn’t closed on the land, and the county hasn’t issued any permits for the property yet.
Amir Dhanji owns a vacant, 5.6-acre property at 14180 S Apopka Vineland Rd., with entitlements for hotel and retail, but he previously told GrowthSpotter that he is exploring a land use change to apartments, short-term rentals, or medical uses.
Intram Investments, the master developer behind the nearby 829-acre World Gateway PD, previously removed entitlements for 798 hotel rooms in favor of 900 more multifamily units. The PD currently has county approval for 4,680 hotel rooms, 864 timeshare units, 2,385 multifamily units, 240,000 square feet of retail, 171,530 square feet of office space, a 20,000-square-foot sit-down restaurant, and a 5,000-square-foot fast-food restaurant.
Additionally, The Bainbridge Companies broke ground earlier this year on the final phase of Bainbridge World Center, located just east of Lake Bryan at 14051 International Dr. The first phase delivered 341 units, and the second phase is set to include another 415 apartments once it is completed in 2027.
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