A team of developers has submitted a plan for an eight-story boutique hotel, in front of the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts. The development team includes Stuart Newmark, who is president of the nearby Aloft Orlando hotel and formerly helped open the Grand Bohemian Hotel downtown.
The city had envisioned a hotel on the site during planning, and only one team submitted a response to the city’s request for proposals. The city plan shows a hotel with parking flanking each side of Seneff Arts Center Plaza, where the city plans to host more outdoor concerts, like the Sheryl Crow concert in front of the New Performing Arts Center, which was held during opening week last fall. Hotel guests on the outdoor terraces of these future developments could watch concert performances from their tables.
Features of the hotel proposal include:
155 rooms catering to the business traveler, as well as the locals
Eight stories tall with a entrance along South Street, reflecting the white brick and exposed structure of the Dr. Phillips Center
Outdoor balconies and rooftop bars will overlook the plaza in front of the center
A lobby with a resident artist, designed like an art gallery
Large rooms at 380 square feet, with floor to ceiling glass windows connected to large balconies, rain showers, free WiFi and free Starbucks coffee bars
Chef driven restaurant on the ground floor, roof top bar with infinity edge pool, Aveda Spa., two ballrooms
214 valet spaces within the hotel parking facilities to DPAC patrons
Newmark said developers are now just waiting for word from city officials before they move forward in the process, “We’re ready to meet again and continue to have dialogue and discussion and collaboration.”
Other members of the development team include:
–Marc Bortz, of Chicago-based Bortz Group, has been actively involved in downtown Orlando for the last 14 years.
–Clint Jackson, senior project manager for PCL for the Dr. Phillips Center, will be construction team leader.
–The Gettys Group, architects; PKF Consulting, market analysis; and CBRE, financing.
Here is a link to the article by Paul Brinkmann in his Orlando Sentinel Business Blog: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/brinkmann-on-business/os-proposal-unveiled-for-eightstory-hotel-at-dr-phillips-center-20150313-post.html