Soon-to-close Wyndham Orlando Resort primed for redevelopment
A hotel that will close near the intersection of International Drive and West Sand Lake Road could be primed for redevelopment.
Orlando Business Journal reported the planned closure of the 633-room Wyndham Orlando Resort at 8001 International Drive on April 30. The hotel property is owned by an entity connected to Unicorp National Developments Inc., which owns more than 39 acres in the corridor. Orange County in February approved a lot split of the nearly 27-acre site into separate 17.1-acre and 9.6-acre properties. Plans submitted alongside the request did not disclose why the split was sought or what the respective properties would be used for.
Unicorp executives were not immediately available for comment, but the developer previously explored plans to redevelop the resort and add residential units at the site. In October 2022, for instance, Unicorp CEO Chuck Whittall told OBJ the progress on Universal Orlando Resort’s Epic Universe theme park and hotel projects about a mile east of the Wyndham were, in part, a motivating factor to get the wheels turning once again on redevelopment.
Joshua Wallack, owner and operator for Mango’s Tropical Cafe Orlando and owner of Hollywood Plaza, told Orlando Business Journal the property is well-positioned with the progress of the new theme park that is set to open in the summer of 2025. “I believe the hotel is one of the best properties in Orange County”. Wyndham Orlando Resort, which has been open since the 1970s, has changed since Unicorp bought the property in 2011. It was a 1,058-room hotel then, with buildings fronting International Drive which were eventually redeveloped into more than 100,000 squar
Wallack said potential work at the property could include preserving some of the more recently renovated elements of the Wyndham — such as its 60,000 square feet of event space — while getting rid of its older buildings in favor of new development.
Any redevelopment would also benefit from being located near the proposed I-Drive pedestrian bridge. Whatever happens at the site would be the latest in a wave of investment into the corridor. Maria Triscari, president of the International Drive Resort Area Chamber of Commerce, told OBJ the I-Drive corridor has more than $4 billion in new development planned, not including Epic Universe.
With work on the theme park underway and phase one of the Orange County Convention Center Master Plan expected to move forward as early this year, Triscari said many properties are starting to prepare and modernize. “The Wyndham Orlando is centrally located right in the center of all the growth on I-Drive and it only makes sense that they will be upgrading and transforming one of the original I-Drive hotels into a modern property and development that will enhance the corridor and best serve the future of I-Drive.”