Orlando Historic Starwood Hotel
Address
500 S. Orange Ave
Orlando, FL 32801
Census Tract
12095010100
Poverty Rate
16.8%
Median Income
59.3%
Total Project Cost
$20,200,200
Federal NMTC Financing
$7,000,000
State NMTC Financing FL)
$10,000,000
Project Completion
Overview
The Project involves the adaptive reuse redevelopment of the historic Orlando Utility Commission Administration Building to a proposed Starwood Aloft hotel. The hotel will contain approximately 126 guest rooms, meeting space, a fitness center and other amenities. It will have a generous lobby with comfortable furnishings, billiards, light food and bar service.
Project Financing
UDF provided the project with $10 million in NMTC financing utilizing both federal NMTC and FL State NMTC. This financing includes a number of flexible features including: a rate at least 50% below market, higher than standard loan to value, and a longer than standard period of interest only payments. The project will also receive an equity investment derived from the sale of historic rehabilitation tax credits generated by the redevelopment.
Community Impact
The Project is located in Downtown Orlando, within the Downtown Orlando Community Redevelopment Agency TIF District and adjacent to Parramore, one of Orlando’s most distressed neighborhoods. The neighborhood has a poverty rate of 16.8% and median income only 59.3% of the area median income. In addition to the 162 FTE construction jobs and 32 FTE hotel jobs, GDCP has partnered with the University of Central Florida’s Rosen College of Hospitality Management to create an internship and job training program to be located at the Project. In addition to students of the Rosen College, the program will provide training for out of work local residents interested in entering the hospitality industry via placement by nonprofit intermediaries such as WorkForce Central Florida. We expect to train approximately 30 individuals per year to enter the hospitality industry and will dedicate a portion of the Project as a training facility.
