Exclusive: Why Unicorp will revive I-Drive resort project
Earlier this month, developer Unicorp National Developments Inc. revived its long-laid plans for the redevelopment of the Wyndham Orlando Resort International Drive.
Reached by phone, Unicorp President Chuck Whittall confirmed those plans to the Orlando Business Journal and explained why he felt now is the time to set this project at 8001 International Drive back in motion. Why this matters: Unicorp’s redevelopment of the I-Drive resort should lead to another $1 billion-plus of investment in one of Orlando’s most important economic corridors — and could attract more capital and projects to follow it.
Whittall’s firm is equal partners on the project with New York-based Flag Luxury Group LLC. He said Unicorp and Flag Luxury Group for some timehad wanted to move forward on the redevelopment, plans for which date back to 2014, but his firm’s slate of projects — including the $1 billion-plus O-Town West mixed-use development — has kept his team “very, very busy.”
Whittall said the progress on Universal Orlando Resort’s Epic Universe theme park and hotel projects about a mile east of the resort are partly a motivating factor to get the redevelopment’s wheels turning once again. “With Universal moving forward as quick as it is, we just want to get going so that when it opens, we’re ready to open.”
Unicorp and Flag Luxury Groupwill rebuild the hotel on the property as a 600-room high-rise tower, said Whittall. The plans also call for 1,200-1,400 apartments and 40,000-50,000 square feet of retail space.
He said the goal is to break ground in early 2024. Unicorp’s project will rise in the heart of Orlando’s tourist corridor, which is one of the region’s most important economic drivers
Meanwhile, in September, Apopka-based contractor Finfrock Construction LLC filed a notice of commencement for Project 912, the rumored project codename for one of Epic Universe’s hotels fronting Universal Boulevard. That permit runs through 2025, giving a preliminary indication of the project’s timeline for completion.
Unicorp’s project is gearing back up as the local hotel industry continues to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic’s negative financial impact. For example, resort tax collections in Orange County reached $23.4 million in August 2022, up 41.1% from $16.5 million in August 2021, said county documents. Year-to-date collections show a total $311.9 million has been collected so far — an all-time record — despite one more month yet to be collected before the end of the county’s fiscal year.
August’s resort tax collections were “fueled by steady hotel demand (1% above 2019) and a strong average daily room rate ($125.60 vs. $107.01 August 2019),” according to a Visit Orlando newsletter. For August 2022, metro Orlando’s occupancy rate was 66.9%, slightly lower than 2019 and up from 52.5% in 2021.
Robust hotel tax collections show the region’s tourism health and can help provide a peek into the overall year’s performance.
As for the apartment component of Unicorp’s plans for the site, the I Drive Orlando multifamily submarket is the busiest in the region with 1,313 units delivered in the past 12 months and 6,654 units under construction, according to CoStar Group.
The submarket has an average monthly apartment rent of $1,945 and a 7.1% average vacancy rate. In comparison, the metro has an average monthly apartment rent of $1,810 and a 5.6% average vacancy rate.
Meanwhile, Orlando’s third quarter year-over-year rent growth of 10% was second-highest among U.S. metros.
“Our multifamily market is still very, very strong,” said Lisa McNatt, CoStar’s director of market analytics in Orlando.