Pritzker would not confirm the land-acquisition deal but is on record with plans to open what could become the largest Hyatt Hotel in its chain by 2004, a 1,500-room inn directly adjacent to the four million-sf Orange County Convention Center and the 891-room Peabody Orlando Hotel, one of the area's earliest convention inns. Another 1,000-room addition is on the Hyatt drawing boards. GlobeSt.com reported that story Jan. 19.

GlobeSt.com learned today from area hospitality brokers that Pritzker plans to break ground by yearend. The estimated hard construction cost of the hotel is $30 million and will take two years to erect, construction industry estimators familiar with comparable projects tell GlobeSt.com. Pritzker would not confirm that number or the construction timeframe.

The ground-breaking would surpass rival Hilton Hotel Corp.'s plans by a year to build a 1,400-room, convention hotel in the immediate vicinity of the Hyatt project by 2005. The estimated construction cost of the Hilton venture is $28 million, according to area construction industry estimators.