Bullish on the new expansion of Orange County’s Convention Center, RIDA Development is spending $75 million on renovations to modernize each of its convention center hotels.
The Houston-based company teamed up with Los Angeles-based Ares Management last year to buy the Hyatt Regency Orlando, one of four hotels with skybridge connections to the OCCC, for over $1 billion. RIDA developed and still owns the Hilton Orlando, which just received a top-to-bottom renovation.
RIDA CEO Ira Mitzner told GrowthSpotter the improvements will extend to indoor and outdoor common areas, restaurants, bars, meeting and event space, as well as each guest room. The last of the Hilton’s 1,425 guestrooms will be completed by the end of the month.
Each of the Hilton Orlando’s 1,425 rooms has been renovated with the serene color palette and furnishings selected by Looney & Associates. Select rooms will be equipped with an air purification system to accommodate guests with asthma or other respiratory issues. (Courtesy of RIDA Development)
“So between between the Hilton and the Hyatt, not only did we purchase the Hyatt, but we are in the process of spending a total of $150 million, because we believe that in order for the convention center to succeed, especially with its expansion, it means its surrounding branded hotels have to reinvest in themselves so that our our guests, the conventioners, when they come back to their hotel room, will have a high-quality, four-diamond-plus experience,” Mitzner said.
RIDA collaborated with Looney & Associates and Carroll/Adams on the new interior package that blends understated elegance with modern design and technology. “Jim Looney, the principal, basically understands that when trying to create the ultimate guestroom, that it’s your home away from home, and you just have to feel right about spending a night, or two or three, there,” Mitzner said.
Trabucco, the Hilton’s signature Italian restaurant, received to a total refresh and an updated menu. (Courtesy of RIDA Development)
The goal is to upgrade the guest experience, so the convention center can attract high-quality groups that generate a return on the $560 million investment in the center’s expansion. It’s all about getting the “maximum spend” in the city.
“The whole purpose of the convention business is to have someone who comes in, spends money not just with Uber drivers, but on quality restaurants,” Mitzner said. “Maybe the kids come, and they go to Universal or to Disney at the same time with mom and dad, who are at a convention. And also to spend money in our shops and other areas.”
Orange County officials broke ground Wednesday morning on the OCCC Grand Concourse expansion that will link the north and south buildings and add 44,000 square feet of meeting space and a new 100,000-square-foot ballroom. It’s the first of two expansions that will increase the facility’s size to 2.3 million square feet.
“We believe that if we keep investing wisely and have the public-private partnership with the convention center and the county, that within a few short years, we can overtake Las Vegas to become the number one convention center in the world,” Mitzner said. “It’s a very doable project — as long as we spend our resources wisely.”
The pool and deck on the fourth floor are being upgraded to create a premium outdoor event space with a 30-foot-wide digital TV screen. (Courtesy of RIDA Development)
At the Hyatt Regency Orlando, renovations are just getting underway. Here, the design team focused on some of the outdoor spaces, including transforming the fourth-floor pool area over the porte cochère into a Las Vegas-style event space with a new 30-foot-wide digital TV screen.
“When we took over the Hyatt, we saw that there was a deficiency in high-quality outdoor meeting spaces,” Mitzner said. The reimagined space will be able to accommodate up to 1,000 guests.
Other improvements include a modernization of the main swimming pool featuring a zero-entry pool, new landscaping, and deck furniture. There’s also a new addition to the lobby area.
“We’re also adding a new sushi bar,” RIDA Senior VP Marc Reicher added. “We just hired a sushi chef, and it will be open by year’s end.”
Renovations of all 1,641 rooms at the Hyatt Regency Orlando will begin in the spring and should be complete by the end of 2026. (Courtesy of RIDA Development)
All of the Hyatt’s 1,641 guestrooms will be renovated with the new Looney & Associates design.
“Construction commenced about 45 days ago,” Reicher said. “And the room design is finalized, and we’re in purchasing. We’ll start that in the spring of next year and complete it by the end of 2026.”
Long-term plans to build a new Grand Hyatt on vacant land next to the OCCC are still in the preliminary stage. The Hyatt Regency acquisition in 2024 included an undeveloped 45-acre lot at 9000 Universal Blvd. with entitlements for up to 2,500 hotel rooms.
“The planning is continuing,” Reicher said. “It’s ongoing, and we’re finalizing some design and starting to get our hands around cost. I don’t know that we will have a timeframe for that, but we are very anxious to bring that to the market.”
Have a tip about Central Florida development? Contact me at lkinsler@GrowthSpotter.com or (407) 420-6261. Follow GrowthSpotter on Facebook and LinkedIn.