A major Orlando meeting and convention hotel, the 1,641-room Peabody Orlando, is being bought and rebranded by Hyatt Hotels Corp.
The transaction is expected to close on October 1, and the hotel will be renamed Hyatt Regency Orlando Convention Center. It will be the sixth Hyatt hotel in Orlando, but the first large convention hotel for Hyatt in the market.
The property has more than 200,000 square feet of meeting space and is attached via walkway to the 2 million-square-foot Orange County Convention Center. The hotel recently underwent a $440 million expansion and renovation.
Hyatt has purchased the property for $717 million from UST Hotel Joint Venture, Ltd., comprised of affiliates of Belz Enterprises and Estein & Associates USA, Ltd.
“This transaction brings us a very high-quality hotel in one of the most popular cities in the world and enhances the Hyatt Regency brand—already a leader in meetings and conventions—with a presence adjacent to one of the largest convention facilities in the U.S.,” said Stephen Haggerty, global head, real estate and capital strategy for Hyatt. “We are confident that we will be able to build on the strong performance of this property through the depth and breadth of our relationships with meeting planners and corporate travel managers and the global strength of our brand.”
Orlando continues to benefit from strong demand from a variety of different types of guests, said Haggerty. “The strong base of business booked at the Orange County Convention Center over the coming years demonstrates the attractiveness of the market to associations and corporate groups,” he added. “The overall number of visitors to Orlando continues to increase and it remains one of the most visited vacation destinations. This addition to the Hyatt Regency portfolio will create value for the company in multiple ways and is consistent with our strategy of applying our capital to increase our brand presence in key markets.”
