Hyatt to Buy Peabody Orlando Hotel for $717 million

According to multiple outlets, Hyatt Hotels Corp. has agreed to purchase the Peabody Orlando Hotel for $717 million—a move that should give Hyatt a jolt to its meetings and conventions business. The sale of the 1,641-room hotel is expected to be completed in October. 

The hotel, which is attached to to the Orange County Convention Center, will be renamed the Hyatt Regency Orlando Convention Center.

"This transaction brings us a very high-quality hotel in one of the most popular cities in the world and enhances the Hyatt Regency brand with a presence adjacent to one of the largest convention facilities in the U.S.," said Stephen Haggerty, global head of real estate and capital strategy for Hyatt. 

The hotel will be the company’s sixth in Orlando and the first one associated with conventions. The property has more than 200,000 square feet of group facilities, along with more than 2 million square feet at the Orange County Convention Center, which will give it the most meeting space of any of its U.S. Hyatt Regency properties.

The seller is an affiliate of Memphis, Tennessee-based investment firm Belz Enterprises and Orlando-based Estein & Associates USA Ltd.

The hotel recently had a $440-million renovation and Hyatt said it doesn’t plan to invest "significant capital" in the near future.