Orange County Commissioners voted to spend $13 million for a recently renovated hotel next door to the jail, but county leaders won’t tell GrowthSpotter how it would be used.
The county is under contract to acquire Baymont by Wyndham Orlando North Millenia in a direct sale transaction. The real estate agreement positions the county to take ownership of the 3.82-acre hospitality property, located at 2500 33rd St.
The hotel was formerly Developer Inn. Built in 1973, two years after Walt Disney World opened, it was originally a flagship Days Inn, intended to catch the sudden influx of budget-conscious driving tourists.
The transaction was finalized directly between the county and the holding entities, American Management & Consulting Co. LLC, which held the title to the land, and Developer Inn Downtown Orlando LLC, which owned recent structural improvements. Both corporate sellers were represented by authorized signatory Leonardo Luciano Bagnato, who executed the agreement on June 3.
While the property was previously listed on the commercial market by Sarhan Hotel Group with an asking price of $11.9 million, the brokerage team was not a party to the final county contract. William Betancourt, a senior associate with Sarhan Hotel Group, did not respond to emailed questions.
Contract value exceeds previous market price
The final purchase price is exactly $13 million, $1.1 million higher than the property’s public commercial listing asking price.
Commissioners approved the request for funds on June 4 with no discussion. The only background document was a Request for Funds by the Real Estate Management Division, with the budget allocation to come from the Community and Family Services Department.
The 97,794-square-foot, four-story property contains 200 rooms operating under the Baymont by Wyndham flag. Amenities include an outdoor swimming pool, a breakfast buffet and dining room, a business center, and a fitness center. The facility rebranded to the Wyndham system immediately following approximately $3 million in capital improvements and room renovations completed in 2024. Representatives for Wyndham did not respond to a GrowthSpotter inquiry prior to publication.
County administrative officials also declined requests for an interview; however, Senior Public Information Officer Ezzy Castro Nemzin confirmed the pending transaction in an email.
“This is a strategically advantageous purchase for Orange County due to its location and proximity to other County facilities and there are a couple of options at this point for the property,” Nemzin wrote.
Location points to alternate property uses
The hotel sits adjacent to the Orange County Corrections Department campus and across from the county’s Public Works Division. Given the funding source, it’s unlikely the asset would serve a jail-related function. The hotel’s turnkey status and trends in other municipalities point to some potential reuse options for Orange County.
The property could be converted into an emergency shelter, a model that keeps unhoused residents off the street during the day by providing round-the-clock on-site services. Baltimore used this strategy in an $18.4 million acquisition of a downtown Holiday Inn Express and a neighboring Sleep Inn & Suites to create permanent, 24-hour shelter hubs three blocks from its high-volume central jail booking complex.
Orange County had planned to convert a work release facility in Orlando’s SoDo neighborhood into a 300-bed, low-barrier homeless shelter in 2024, but scuttled the plan due to fierce neighborhood opposition.
Similar hospitality assets are used nationally as pre-trial diversion centers to house non-violent individuals awaiting court dates, removing them from high-cost jail beds into structured behavioral monitoring programs. Harris County, Texas, pioneered this model with a centralized diversion facility that has minimized repeat local misdemeanor bookings.
Further, local governments frequently acquire hotels to establish integrated, service-rich housing hubs, an adaptive reuse model deployed by the City of Kissimmee and Osceola County in 2023. The municipal partnership pooled $12 million to purchase a former Super 8 Motel on W. Vine Street, rebranding the 123-unit hospitality asset as the Haven on Vine. Utilizing federal American Rescue Plan funding, the site operates as a 24/7 care network that blends 40 emergency shelter and bridge housing rooms, 40 converted studio apartments for permanent affordable housing, and 40 adjacent two-bedroom apartments reserved for residents earning 80% or less of the area’s median income.
Before Orange County can pursue any of the potential reuse strategies for the Baymont by Wyndham Orlando North Millenia, the deal must be finalized. The purchase contract provides a 90-day due diligence window, giving county officials until early September to clear any hurdles before finalizing the $13 million purchase.
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