condo hotel failure in FL

from yesterday's Orlando Sentinel:

Lofty dreams for condo hotels come crashing down

Christopher Boyd
July 29, 2007

"Condominium hotels may go down as one of the briefest fads ever to sweep the real-estate industry as the market slumps in Central Florida -- only a year after it peaked.

Potential buyers are disappearing and financing commitments are falling flat, leaving condo-hotel developers with an uncertain future.

Last week, the first such hotel to open in downtown Orlando filed for bankruptcy protection, a failure the developer blamed on a rapidly changing market.

"Our sales were good in the beginning, but it got bad, bad, bad and then even worse," said Barry Greer, an owner of The Lexington at Orlando CityPlace. "The market was red-hot when we started this, but it folded up before we could close it out."

Greer said nearly 100 people placed deposits on rooms in the 227-unit hotel but then backed out. According to the bankruptcy filing, just 31 units were sold." ...

"Plans for condo hotels rained upon Central Florida with the force of a summer downpour last year. Nearly 15,000 condo-hotel rooms were proposed, including two big resorts not far from the Orange County Convention Center.

Developers of both resorts -- The Blue Rose on Universal Boulevard and the InterContinental Resort & Residences Orlando at Palazzo Del Lago on International Drive -- say they are moving ahead, though neither has broken ground. In both cases, projected openings have moved from 2009 to 2010." .....

"We see Orlando as the Achilles' heel of the condo-hotel market," said Dante Alexander, president and chief executive officer of the National Association of Condo Hotel Owners, a group that represents both developers and buyers." ....

"Today, the projects that stand a chance are the ones that have it all, said Alexander. They must be new, have a plethora of resort amenities and be affiliated with well-known hotel brands to attract interest." .....

"But some projects are moving ahead. Neil Scott, vice president of Floridays Resort on International Drive, said this condo-hotel resort is about to break ground on a 360-unit expansion after selling out a first phase." .....

for the complete story see: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/orl-condohotel2907jul29,0,3103020.story