Unicorps O-Town West to get first Tao Hotel luxury resort

Unicorp National Developments Inc.’s $1 billion-plus O-Town West mixed-use development has landed a first-of-its-kind resort concept.

New York-based Tao Group Hospitality, a subsidiary of Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corp. (NYSE: MSGE) announced Nov. 9 that O-Town West will be the site of Tao Hotel, which will be Orlando’s first Tao-branded resort.

The luxury hotel also will include a Tao Asian Bistro restaurant, which is known for drawing athletes, celebrities and businesspeople. Other Tao Asian Bistro locations include Chicago, Los Angeles and The Venetian Resort & Casino in Las Vegas.

Why this matters: Large projects such as Unicorp’s O-Town West and the future Tao Hotel create opportunities for contractors and subcontractors during development and construction, while also creating hundreds of jobs once complete. Such projects also can attract more investment to the region.

Unicorp President Chuck Whittall told Orlando Business Journal his company will develop the property and the 220-room hotel could cost $150 million to build, while the combined price for the hotel and restaurant may end up closer to $175 million.

Whittall said he and his team — specifically Taylor Coan, Unicorp’s director of leasing — have been working on the deal with Tao Group for about a year-and-a-half and it represents a huge deal, not just for the O-Town West project, but also for Orlando. “To bring a specialty brand like this to Orlando, we think it’s going to change the whole face of the city.”

The Tao Hotel will rise within the City Center at O-Town West component of the larger development, at the corner of Daryl Carter Parkway and Palm Parkway, adjacent the under-construction headquarters for Marriott Vacations Worldwide. The plan is to start work in the project in 2024 and finish in 2025.

Tao Group is a luxury dining and nightlife company with high-profile restaurants, lounges and other concepts in markets such as Chicago, Las Vegas, London, Los Angeles, Miami, New York and Shanghai.

The brand having its own hotel is part of a “natural evolution” for the firm, said Tao Group CEO Noah Tepperberg in a prepared statement. “The Tao Group Hospitality clientele has evolved with us over the years and is looking for something that can provide them with more than just a few hours of fun at one of our locations. … More than just culinary and nightlife, Tao is a lifestyle, and this large-scale venture provides the ultimate opportunity to bring that experience to life.”

Tao Group and Unicorp will work with New York-based architecture firm Rockwell Group to design the property, which also will include other amenities such as a rooftop bar experience and a pool club.

Having a Tao-branded restaurant, in particular, could be a game-changer for the region, especially given the project’s proximity to the Orange County Convention Center, said Whittall. “You can’t find that in Orlando outside of Disney World. We haven’t had something like that and we think it’s going to be a very special addition.”

The announcement for Tao Hotel comes as metro Orlando’s tourism is seeing record amounts of people coming to the region.

For instance, a recent report from Orange County Comptroller Phil Diamond showed the county’s resort tax collections — an indicator of the tourism and travel industry’s health — ended the 2021-2022 fiscal year with an all-time-high of $336.3 million, up 18.4% from $284 million in fiscal 2018-2019 before the pandemic,

Meanwhile, the Tao Hotel would be the latest luxury-focused component of the larger O-Town West project. For instance, Whittall recently told OBJ the group is planning The Luxe at Dr. Phillips as part of the development — a 200-unit “super luxury” apartment community.

Luke Wickham, a senior managing director in the Orlando office of Marcus & Millichap Inc.’s (NYSE: MMI) Institutional Property Advisors, who is not involved in the plans, previously said Whittall is a good bet on projects aspiring to that level of luxury. “He’s a world-class developer with a real eye for detail in the high-end market.”