Tishman Hotel & Realty and MetLife Investment Management have closed a massive refinancing deal near one of America’s most famous theme parks, suggesting the loan rollercoaster may be on the rise.
Lending giants Bank of America, Wells Fargo and Goldman Sachs have provided a five-year, $735 million loan to bolster the 2,619-room Swan & Dolphin Resort adjacent to Walt Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, according to a press release. JLL’s Kevin Davis, Mark Fisher and Caleigh O’Connell facilitated the floating rate CMBS loan. The debt amounts to US$250,000 per key.
Securing a loan of this magnitude is a triumph given the tight credit environment that has been a blow to commercial real estate since last year, hurting sales across much of the country while making it difficult for homeowners to refinance their assets.
Davis, who is CEO of JLL’s Hotels & Hospitality Group Americas, called the deal “an affirmation of the strong local cash flows, the resort’s unique competitive position and the incredible 35-year track record that Tishman and MIM have created in Orlando .”
The resort is comprised of three hotels – the 756-room Walt Disney World Swan, the 1,514-room Walt Disney World Dolphin and the 349-room Swan Reserve – all part of Marriott’s Autograph Collection. Tishman and MetLife built the hotels in 1989, 1990, and 2021, respectively, and they are the only non-Disney-owned hotels at Walt Disney World.
The resort, about 25 minutes southwest of Orlando, has more than 452,000 square feet of meeting and event space and 100,000 square feet of outdoor space. Among its amenities are 16 restaurants, seven bars, three fitness centers, six pools and a 12,000-square-foot spa.
Several other Florida hotels have received nine-figure refinancings since late last year, signaling the hotel industry’s continued recovery from the pandemic that sent leisure travel plummeting.
In October, Fort Partners secured $410 million to refinance two Four Seasons resorts in South Florida. Pebblebrook Hotel Trust secured a $140 million loan for its Margaritaville resort in Hollywood Beach about a month earlier.
—Quinn Donoghue
