Industry News

ChampionsGate Welcomes Omni Orlando Resort
New 730-Room Destination is Heart of the Golf Lifestyle Community

CHAMPIONSGATE, Fla.--ChampionsGate golf resort, southwest of Orlando, recently celebrated the official opening of the Omni Orlando Resort at ChampionsGate Saturday, with the slicing of a red ribbon by golfing great Arnold Palmer, his grandson, Sam Saunders, community developers, David and Ira Mitzner, Lee Neibart, and Omni Hotels president Mike Deitemeyer.

The new flagship resort for Omni Hotels is the first major hotel project nationwide financed and completed after 9-11. The 730-room Omni Orlando Resort is at the heart of ChampionsGate, and represents a new landmark for Central Florida tourism. At 16 stories, the resort is the tallest building in Osceola County. It will sit adjacent to the 558-unit ChampionsGate master planned community that includes condos, townhomes, estate homes and resort villas.

"The Omni Orlando Resort is a testament to the vision of my father who believed in this location years before it emerged as a prime destination," said Ira Mitzner, president of RIDA Development Corporation. "The fact that the hotel opened on time showcases the commitment of our partners within the ChampionsGate family."

The new Omni is a partnership that includes New York-based Apollo Real Estate Advisors and Houston-based RIDA Development Corporation. Major lenders were skeptical about approving new loans for hotels after 9-11, especially in the Orlando market. Yet, both Omni Hotels and RIDA Development Corporation were confident Orlando needed more high-end properties.

"It took a great deal of soul searching and number crunching to get the deal done," said Mitzner, "But we believe this is a perfect fit for the community and Orlando has a strong demand in the luxury resort segment."

After financing, RTKL spearheaded the design, and Welbro Construction made the resort come alive. At first, the building breezed along on time. Then Mother Nature christened the resort with hurricanes Charley, Francis and Jeanne, and a glancing blow from Hurricane Ivan, just as the Omni was nearing completion.

"The hurricanes hit at the finishing stretch. We were racing to put the final touches on the hotel and all of a sudden we had to deal with threats of 115-mile-an-hour winds," said John Fischer, vice president Rida Development. "We basically planted the trees around the resort four times."

The storms put strain on last-minute supplies and government approvals. Inspectors worked long hours to try to keep the new resort on track and on schedule.

ChampionsGate a Welcome Neighbor
"The coordination with Osceola County was fabulous. Without the work of the inspectors and building department during a challenging time for our county, we could not have completed this project," Mitzner said. "We owe them a debt of gratitude."

Actually, it is Osceola County officials who say they are thankful for ChampionsGate. The development is expected to pump millions of dollars in property resort fees and sales taxes into the county. The Omni is an example of the upscale hotel development that the county craves.

"The opening of Omni Orlando Resort at ChampionsGate could not come at a better time," said Ken Shipley, chairman of the Osceola County Commission. "This brings a stunning four-star property to our area that we expect will serve as a beacon to welcome guests to Central Florida. Ira and David Mitzner are the most professional team I have had the pleasure to work with - and for that I am incredibly thankful."

For Omni Hotels the opening represents a new flagship hotel in the top tourism destination in the country. The destination golf resort includes more than 70,000 square feet of meeting space, a 10,000 square-foot European-style spa, and two par-72 championship golf courses, the National and the International, designed by golf great, Greg Norman.

ChampionsGate hosts the Office Depot Father/Son Golf Challenge, nationally telecast on NBC-TV. ChampionsGate is also home to the world headquarters of the internationally acclaimed David Leadbetter Golf Academy.

"The reception The Omni Orlando Resort has received since welcoming it first guest this past October is heartwarming," said Michael Deitemeyer, president of Omni Hotels. "We helped design this hotel so it would be built to four-star standards and would represent the sensible luxury that Omni delivers to its guests. Our standards were tested even before opening."

At ChampionsGate, the Omni is just the beginning. Del Webb has announced plans to build, BellaTrae a $200 million community of luxury townhomes, condos and villas near the new resort. Construction is also about to start for the Villas at ChampionsGate, a luxury condo community of nine buildings with a variety of floor plans designed to meet the high standards of future owners and residents.

"We are really building a lifestyle," Mitzner said. "With the new Omni Orlando Resort, this community has the heart of a champion. It is clear that nothing is going to stop us from achieving greatness and bringing to Central Florida a new vacation destination and a new hometown."

About ChampionsGate
ChampionsGate is Florida's premiere golf resort community, encompassing some 1,500 acres southwest of Orlando. ChampionsGate, with its beautifully designed double gates, welcomes visitors off Interstate 4, just south of the Walt Disney World Resort.

ChampionsGate is being developed as a joint venture by Apollo Real Estate Advisors of New York and RIDA Development Corporation of Houston. ChampionsGate has a projected value of approximately $1 billion and is expected to include 2,864 hotel rooms, 2,136 resort villas, condominiums, townhomes and apartments, 36 holes of golf, and 426,000 square feet of retail space, making ChampionsGate one of the region's largest resort destinations.

For more information on ChampionsGate, see the Featured Property listing.

For more information on condo hotels, please call Condo Hotel Center at (305) 944-3090 or send an e-mail to info@condohotelcenter.com.