Land Sale November 18

[CentralFloridaRocks831]

So the future is looking pretty dark for universal Orlando right now let's say if it is true that colony capital LLC doesn't do anything theme park related here...or it ends the possible chances of other theme park companies to vie for this massive land they've acquired? Like Disney, six flags, paramount, and universal, even SeaWorld parks. Iike I posted before the 3000 acres on the wetlands Disney world has purchased that for future development. So was this universal orlandos last chance of acquiring a big chunk of land losing to colony capital? Sorry I'm still very confused. Universal orlandos only available free land will only now be wet n wild Orlando which will close December 2016. Of course wet n wild Orlando property is not big enough to start a 3rd gate...so I hate to say this Uni Orlando is really screwed now? Please tell me if I'm wrong if I'm getting this mixed up here...this is very puzzling.

 

[CentralFloridaRocks831]

Or this may sound pretty dumb because it's probably not going to happen but Universal Orlando can hope SeaWorld loses its business; and their park closes so Universal could buy it. Again highly unlikely.....SeaWorld Orlando I hear has been going through a tough road right now..I honesty want the park to stay. But was just thinking of expansion/future development for Uni.

 

[JoeCamel]

So the future is looking pretty dark for universal Orlando right now let's say if it is true that colony capital LLC doesn't do anything theme park related here...or it ends the possible chances of other theme park companies to vie for this massive land they've acquired? Like Disney, six flags, paramount, and universal, even SeaWorld parks. Iike I posted before the 3000 acres on the wetlands Disney world has purchased that for future development. So was this universal orlandos last chance of acquiring a big chunk of land losing to colony capital? Sorry I'm still very confused. Universal orlandos only available free land will only now be wet n wild Orlando which will close December 2016. Of course wet n wild Orlando property is not big enough to start a 3rd gate...so I hate to say this Uni Orlando is really screwed now? Please tell me if I'm wrong if I'm getting this mixed up here...this is very puzzling.

I see you don't understand, Colony Capital's holding company ( Orlando REO Land LLC) is not going to do anything with this land except hold it until it can be sold for a profit.

The whole forclosure was to clear the title so Colony could obtain it and sell it off to recoup some of the money they had in the deal.

It is still 475 acres for sale until someone steps up with money and a plan.

 

[matt78]

Or this may sound pretty dumb because it's probably not going to happen but Universal Orlando can hope SeaWorld loses its business; and their park closes so Universal could buy it. Again highly unlikely.....SeaWorld Orlando I hear has been going through a tough road right now..I honesty want the park to stay. But was just thinking of expansion/future development for Uni.

I wouldn't worry about Universal expanding. Everything right now seems to point to Comcast being all in when it comes to their theme parks. If they decide that they want a 3rd park they will find a way to build it.

 

[HauntedMansionFLA]

I wouldn't worry about Universal expanding. Everything right now seems to point to Comcast being all in when it comes to their theme parks. If they decide that they want a 3rd park they will find a way to build it.

True - it will be interesting how their new water park turns out. They need to grab up as much land as possible. Plus add good transportation too. Rumor was there would be a Monorail system to all hotels and parks.

 

[CentralFloridaRocks831]

I wouldn't worry about Universal expanding. Everything right now seems to point to Comcast being all in when it comes to their theme parks. If they decide that they want a 3rd park they will find a way to build it.

Not worried at all......universal Orlando is far far away from a third gate, let's just clear things up with that. But what I'm saying is that if they were to expand in the next 20 years or so which I'm sure Uni will, I'm sure it will happen either way because as you know they are competing with Disney World. Universal Orlando actually might have the upper hand at the moment over WDW but not a lot until Star Wars land & toy story land opens at DHS. Next year and 17' should be a dominating year for universal Orlando. Kong, the new sapphire falls resort, jimmy Fallon attraction coming 17' I believe and fast and furious in 17'. Plus you got Mako opening up next year at Sea World Orlando.

 

[CentralFloridaRocks831]

Pardon me for double posting but theirs also Avatar land opening up 17' for Disney world as well, and that should be a big hit for Disney. Getting back on topic it should be interesting to see what will become of wet n wild Orlando when it closes its doors on December 2016. It's sure big enough for a 3rd Harry Potter section.

 

[JoeCamel]

tis' a great time to be a theme park fan in Orlando isn't it...............

 

[CentralFloridaRocks831]

tis' a great time to be a theme park fan in Orlando isn't it...............

yep things are on a roll right now for Orlando theme parks in general. Thanks for telling me that colony capital did not buy the land for like theme park/hotel use since you said the 400 something acres can still be bought by any company/group . So Paramount, Disney,Universal, Six Flags, SeaWorld Parks are still in the running I assume? Not sure if Warner Bros. is an option either...since they have a park in Austrailia just curious if they could bring that over to America? What's your top choice if someone were to buy this big chunk of universal blvd property? /in terms of a theme park company?

 

[JoeCamel]

Any willing buyer that comes forward with the money/financing can purchase the 475 acres, if it has to be a theme park Comcast would be the front runner but at 1/3 billion dollars for the property plus the development costs I think the price is too steep for a single use.

 

[EngineJoe]

Yep not my money, build build build all of them, only good things can happen for me.

I have to say some of you maybe over thinking what Universal is doing. Their goal might simple be to fill up all the space they have now and redo older areas. They have been building one thing after another and they haven't run out of room. So far the money coming in has keep up with money headed out but there is a point where you can over build. Universal is dealing with attendance going up a million at a time. That will level off, they aren't going to add an extra million visitors every year. If they do Then they will keep right on building and a third park is probable. Universal could start buying it's neighbors, there is always a price that the numbers will work at. I doubt that will happen. If it was me I would build out what land Universal has and probably stop for a few years to just simply cash in. More attractions, more rooms, new water park these guys are serious about building up the area and have done a good job some far. Can't do that forever. Look at WDW it's been around for 45 years and they are still building. Universal is much younger and didn't start with a huge amount of land.

Of course I'm sure there is a larger over all plan if business goes through the roof but I don't see Universal throwing around 100's of millions of dollars on new land any time soon. Better off waiting for a down market and the real estate market always goes up and down it's a cycle. Also you have the I4 project going and possibly the meglev train? I'm sure someone at Universal who gets paid a lot of money is looking everything over and especially real estate. The area around Wet and Wild doesn't look like anything expensive to me maybe they have a plan around that area? Only problem there is too many land owners. Shopping plaza's etc. aren't worth that much money. Just a thought but I'm sure someone has a map of the area and a blue sky plan if need be.

I think the area directly east and northeast of the parking lot will be bought.

Someone mentioned the Doubletree is in disrepair and they seem to just be waiting to be bought out.

I stayed at the Wingate in the northeast corner for one night ($50 including tax) and they also seem to be just waiting to get bought out because it seems like they aren't making any renovations, repairs or improvements on the property. It was a decent hotel especially for the price but there seemed to be a really weird smell that they were trying to coverup in the bathroom and other people were complaining about it on tripadvisor when I was reading the reviews before I booked.

 

[JoeCamel]

OK, not really connected to the land sale for the 475 acres that it was speculated that Comcast might be interested in but if you have any questions or speculation connected to that it would be appropriate for this thread

 

[EngineJoe]

The hotel business is tricky. At any one hotel you may have a land owner plus the hotel owner and then on top a brand name running the hotel. The big problem is when it's time for a major redo. 20 years is about the life of a hotel without large sums of money being spent to modernize everything. Gets expensive and no one wants to pay for it. Many times the hotel is sold and the new owner comes in and redoes everything. At that point a hotel isn't worth that much and if you want the land for something else that is the time to buy it.

$50 a night is about what a room on I95 costs so I say Wingate is on it's way out or needs to come up with some big money to remodel.

Smells are usually the work of the AC BTW. After years of the AC running non stop there tends to be drain leaks etc. etc. Always water running where you don't want it. Along with humidity, water is always rotting something in the deep south. Once the water gets to wood then the termites show up, mold, rot. That's what makes the remodels so expensive, you can't just throw new carpeting in, some paint and a new sink.

Well the overwhelming cleaning smell was coming from the bathroom and seemed to be masking something.
I read a bunch of the reviews beforehand and there were complaints about hot water not working or faucets leaking or flooding the bathrooms so I assume it has something to do with their plumbing/bathrooms. Otherwise the hotel was very nice for the price and only a 15 minute walk to the Citywalk.

 

[CentralFloridaRocks831]

Sorry i agree with JoeCamel lets stay on topic seriously guys..I'm not in charge or giving any orders but we are jumping into non related stuff now. Let's focus on what really can be done with this land...because if universal can buy it...which would be 400 something acres...yea they can do a lot more than just a third gate if it would come to that.

 

[CentralFloridaRocks831]

Colony like JoeCamel also said can't do much at all with the land when it comes to theme park related stuff. Wet n wild Orlando space I only believe IMO is just big enough for a third Harry Potter section but that's it.

 

[EngineJoe]

Sorry i agree with JoeCamel lets stay on topic seriously guys..I'm not in charge or giving any orders but we are jumping into non related stuff now. Let's focus on what really can be done with this land...because if universal can buy it...which would be 400 something acres...yea they can do a lot more than just a third gate if it would come to that.

That's why it's relevant. The doubletree area and wingate are area can be added to that land to form a third park. In fact there is probably enough land between the universal parking lot and doubletree/wingate to form a third park there if they had to.

 

[EngineJoe]

The land right in the corner between FL Turnpike, I-4, and Kirkman makes the most sense to me.

Yep, they'd have to buy out an aging strip mall, a Burger King, and a few hotels. The worst would be the DoubleTree. I stayed there a year ago and it was an aging hotel. I normally think of DoubleTree as a cut above for hotels and this one wasn't. It felt like they were probably looking to sell it and weren't interested in improvements.

I don't really know, it was just an impression I got. That whole section would be a great piece of land for a 3rd gate. It's a kind of dying area, anyway. Some of the hotels that were there have already closed and been razed.

Yeah I agree. The wingate/I hop area to. Seems like wingate is doing the same thing that the doubletree is doing.

 

[EngineJoe]

A lot of that land will be taken up by the Grand National overpass over I4.

The Doubletree is for sale. That little strip mall sold earlier this year.

How the Double Tree is above major blvd and the Wingate above Vineland. Looking at the map those areas will not be taken over by the overpass.

http://i4ultimate.com/construction-info/grandnational/

 

[BrerJon]

Looking at the size, and existing use, of the plots of land east of the parking lots, they make sense for Universal to buy for hotels, either to reuse existing buildings or demolish and build new ones. Comcast have said they'd like 10,000 rooms, and they aren't close to that with the existing or under construction hotels.

The Lockheed land really does seem like the perfect spot for a third gate. 1/3 Billion? That's a lot, but less than the cost of the two existing Wizarding World lands, and the land is only going to rise in value. Universal should snap it up now, it's a big investment but one they can't lose - even if they just end up selling it to a rival down the track.

 

[CentralFloridaRocks831]

Universal has even declined to answer as to if their even interested in the sand lake road complex....which makes you think Uni may have something up their sleeve most likely. Heck again Wet N wild Orlando space we don't know what's going on with that either. It may not be even universal related...the latest I heard WNWO will be used for future hotel space. I could be wrong.