Kuhn plans 4-star hotel for downtown Orlando

[thelakelander]

Which one will break ground first?  Jacksonville's Riverwatch or Kuhn's proposed hotel for Church Street Station?

Kuhn plans 4-star hotel for Church St.
Facility would feature 350 guest rooms.

Orlando Business Journal - June 15, 2007by Dan PingStaff Writer


ORLANDO -- Should Lou Pearlman dare venture back to Orlando, he might find lodging on the site of his now-bankrupt property holdings.

Developer Cameron Kuhn, who bought the beleaguered entertainment executive's former Church Street Station holdings from U.S. Bankruptcy Court this week, intends to build a four-star hotel there.


Pearlman disappeared shortly after federal agencies began investigating allegations of fraud against him earlier this year. Pearlman is rumored to have left the country.

Kuhn's attorneys began transferring $34 million into an escrow account June 13, and U.S. Bankruptcy Court officials were expected to begin distributing the money to Pearlman's creditors on June 15.

Once that's done, Kuhn will turn his attention to revitalizing the now-struggling Church Street Station retail and restaurant entertainment complex back into the hot spot it was in the 1980s.

'Proven track record'

Part of that plan includes an 18-story, 350-room hotel to be located at the northeast corner of South Street and Garland Avenue. It will be connected to the south side of the Presidential Ballroom at Church Street.

Kuhn says the planned hotel -- designed by VOA Associates Inc. -- would add 20,000 square feet of meeting space to the ballroom's existing 40,000 square feet. Construction could begin as soon as spring 2008, with completion by late 2009.

Kuhn hasn't identified a hotel brand to operate the planned hotel, but adds, "We're shooting for a four-star rating."

Moreover, Kuhn says he already has agreements with the popular Johnny's Filling Station and Tampa-based Ceviche Tapas Bar & Restaurant to open eateries along Church Street.

http://orlando.bizjournals.com/orlando/stories/2007/06/18/story2.html?b=1182139200^1476605

[Seraphs]

Hopefully, we will see ground breaking here first with Riverwatch.  I'd hate to have our city officials and JEA drag their feet as usual and we end up on the back burner with Kuhn while his new Orlando project takes center stage.