ORLANDO, FL? Think of Orlando, and images of Main Street USA may spring to mind. But it?s likely that vision is of Main Street in Walt Disney World?s Magic Kingdom, and not in downtown Orlando. In fact, unless you?ve been to the Church Street Station entertainment district, you may not even realize Orlando has a downtown, or a Main Street at all. But it does, indeed, and new hotels are under development there, thanks to some strong fundamental factors, and a little help from a resurgence in the cultural arts. Just across from Orlando City Hall, Grand Theme Hotels broke ground for The Grand Bohemian July 21, a spokesperson for the company confirmed. The Orlando-based company, owned by hotelier Richard Kessler, will get financing from a local bank to open the 250-suite property, she said. The property?which will have an Austrian theme?would sit across the street from a proposed Orlando Performing Arts Center. Meanwhile, Church Street Station, which opened in downtown Orlando 25 years ago as the city?s first night time entertainment venue, is set to expand under new ownership that plans to build a hotel on a portion of an adjacent 3.8 acres. The hotel would be down the street from Kessler?s Grand Bohemian. The move would restore a bit of history: the historic building that houses Rosie O?Grady?s Good Time Emporium, a saloon that is part of the Church Street complex, was originally the old Orlando Hotel, built in 1915. Prior to the 1974 opening of Church Street Station, that building had been abandoned, as had many structures in downtown Orlando. Further details on the new hotel were not available from new Church Street owners ENIC PLC, the British investment group that owns a conglomerate of sports franchises and restaurants that bought the Church Street Station complex in April from Baltimore Gas & Electric. Meanwhile, a 200-room Courtyard by Marriott (the Marriott Courtyard Downtown) opened March 12. That property was built to capture overflow traffic from the nearby 300-room Orlando Marriott Downtown, which has been in the area for 10 years. ?It?s very exciting,? said Bill Gorman, GM of the Marriott Courtyard Downtown. ?We?ve been here on the ground floor for years and it?s great to be here for the revitalization of downtown Orlando.? All of this activity is being spurred by a number of factors, according to the Metro-Orlando Economic Development Commission. ?In the last couple of years, the cultural environment in downtown Orlando has been greatly enhanced,? said Jackie Kelvington, an EDC spokesperson. The performing arts center is going through the approval stage, she said, noting that a historical museum is also going up. The Orlando Art Museum, which sits on the edge of downtown, has been getting top name art exhibitions of late. Kelvington said a tremendous amount of office development?2.2 million square feet in all? is under construction downtown, as are apartment buildings, spurred by consumer demand, said Kelvington. ?Along with all that, you will see hotels,? she concluded. Word is that Orlando Mayor Glenda Hood is very much behind the revitalization of downtown, and is backing the development of theaters and a light rail system that would connect the area to Walt Disney World. Kessler?s Grand Theme Hotels are also in the works in other Orlando-area locations. In September he aims to open the 115-room early-Florida-themed Celebration Hotel in Celebration, the community created by the Walt Disney Co. He just completed renovation work on the 302-room Sheraton Studio City, themed as a Hollywood hot spot of the 1940s and 50s. His original Grand Theme Orlando property is the Doubletree Castle Hotel on International Drive, themed after the castle in Walt Disney World?s Magic Kingdom. Kessler is set to complete work on restoring the 137-room Casa Monica Hotel in St. Augustine, FL. The property, originally built by Henry Flagler, is scheduled to open Oct. 1. The Grand Bohemian in downtown Orlando is expected to have a
