Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corp. breaks ground near Disney
Steve Weisz thought today would have happened a year ago.
However, after delays due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the CEO of of Orlando-based public timeshare company Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corp. (NYSE: VAC) broke ground on the company’s nine-story, 300,000-square-foot future headquarters on Aug. 10 near Palm Parkway and Daryl Carter Boulevard.
The headquarters will bring together 1,500 employees of the third-largest public company based in Orlando at a time when firms are rethinking their physical office space after nearly two years of working from home during the pandemic. The company is also the anchor tenant in the $1 billion-plus, mixed-use O-Town West project.
The project is the largest single office space currently under construction in Orlando, a positive sign for the real estate market that’s showing signs of recovery from the pandemic. The construction work is expected to wrap up in 2023.
Weisz told OBJ a physical office space is critical for his firm’s future. “The whole sense of collaboration is lost when you do things virtually. You miss the sidebar conversations and the learning transfer when you’re in a physical presence.”
Orlando-based Unicorp National Developments Inc. is the project’s developer. President Chuck Whittall told OBJ he secured a $100 million loan this morning to start construction on the site. The project also will be the future headquarters to Unicorp.
Apopka-based Finfrock is the project’s general contractor, Orlando-based HuntonBrady Architects is the architect and Conway, Arkansas-based Centennial Bank is the lender.
Still, the deal to build Marriott Vacations Worldwide’s headquarters faced uncertainty during the pandemic, which resulted in millions of people across the nation and world working from home. Some companies downsized while others have abandoned the office altogether.
The office deal to relocate Marriott Vacations Worldwide was signed in January 2020 just months before Covid-19 caused offices to shutter.
However, things are looking up for Marriott Vacations Worldwide, and the company’s stock hit an all-time high in March 2021 as travel rebounded. In addition, the company’s two largest markets, Orlando and Hawaii, saw occupancy in line or exceeding June 2019 levels, Weisz said on a second-quarter earnings call on July 29.
“This should be our grand opening ceremony,” said John Geller, president and chief financial officer of Marriott Vacations Worldwide. “Obviously Covid had different plans.”