KISSIMMEE, Fla. – Around Kissimmee, tourists can stay at motels, hotels or resorts along U.S. 192, but there are few to stay at in the downtown area.
The city hopes to change this.
On Tuesday, city officials agreed to host a workshop in April to hear developers’ plans to build a hotel downtown.
“This is probably one of the largest investments and the biggest amount of interests we had in Kissimmee’s development, and we need to make the right decision every step of the way,” Mayor Jackie Espinosa said during Tuesday’s meeting.
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There are two proposals for hotels at the Toho Square property overlooking Lake Tohopekaliga. This is right by the Kissimmee Civic Center at 201 E. Dakin Avenue.
One is to build a 300-room Hyatt Place hotel with 30,000 square feet of conference space. According to the developer’s proposal, it would cost roughly $103 million to build and would be done in two parts, with it finished in five years.
The other is a Hilton Garden Inn hotel built in the civic center’s parking lot. Leaders did not share how many rooms this project would have. Records for this project were not available as well.
“There is a lot of excitement around Kissimmee, and we are very excited to see the interests,” Espinosa said.
These plans come at a time when the city is also considering a change in the culture of downtown. Earlier this month, leaders held a workshop to discuss changes in street closures for events and changing the time for alcohol sales.
Meanwhile, Kissimmee and Osceola County have seen an uptick in development. On Feb. 12, a $250 million resort-style project broke ground near Disney Springs. This comes along with the multitude of companies bringing in high-paying jobs to the semiconductor hub in Osceola County, NeoCity.
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