BTI Partners secures $12M loan, seeks more Orlando-area land
Fort Lauderdale-based
is shopping for more land in the region to grow its Orlando-area portfolio.
The investment and real-estate development firm, which already has multiple assets in the Orlando market, obtained a $12 million loan on June 28 from
BTI is now “actively pursuing other opportunities in this area,” Director of Acquisitions Justin Onorato told
The loan was secured by 100 acres of land in Polk County’s Posner Park development at the U.S.Highway 27-Interstate 4
Onorato said the liquidity makes it possible for BTI to enter into Joint Venture partnerships with prospective developers at Posner Park, which the firm acquired in 2015 after foreclosing on CDD bonds.
“We have contemplated certain development on that site,” he said. “We’ve actually received a lot of interest from multifamily developers, retail, office developers and auto dealerships.” interchange. of the 33-year-old property and will relaunch this month as an Extended Stay Micro Suites.
The Delray Beach hotelier paid $6 million in 2015 for the 400-room hotel, with plans at the time to convert it to all-suite property with 200-plus rooms and interior corridors and reflag as a Doubletree hotel.
Hudson Holdings soon decided to revitalize and enhance the long-standing property with Micro Suites to serve both shortterm and extended stay guests. All the existing 403 rooms will become Extended Stay Micro Suites.
In late June, anveloper nounced it had provided a $14.8 million short-term bridge loan to Hudson for the refinancing and modernization of the hotel. The financing was arranged through its bridge lending platform, CPIF Lending.
Hudson Holdings Managing Director Steven Michael cited the shortage of affordable rental properties in the Orlando-Kissimmee market for the change in strategy.
Site work on the firstphase hotel at Apopka City Center should begin in the third quarter by de-
with key widening of public roads by the city to follow before year’s end.
Apopka’s City Council reviewed a Final Development Plan in late June for the Apopka City Center’s Hilton Garden Inn hotel. To be located on the northeast corner of McGee Avenue and East 6th Street, the four-story, 118-key hotel will lie directly west of the existing Highland Manor events venue, a Victorian mansion the city bought in 2006.
Taurus has site work construction plans for the hotel under review by city staff, with vertical construction plans at 90 percent and likely ready for submission in the next 30 days, said Jeff McFadden, Florida managing partner.
is the hotel general contractor.
The 35-acre Apopka City Center is a long-anticipated, mixed-use development on former public property along the north and south sides of the interchange of S.R. 436 and U.S. 441.
Taurus was chosen by the city as master developer in 2016. The project’s master plan calls for 207,000 square feet of dining, retail and office space, a hotel and 11-acre community park.