The hotel confirms it has booked 870,000 room nights through 2011--10 years down the road. At a daily room rate range of $250 to $450, the estimated value of those bookings could be $30 million, area brokers tell GlobeSt.com.

The location of Opryland Hotel; another 360-room Emerald Tower boutique-style hotel owned by Opryland; and an adjacent 178,000-sf convention center--all expected to open in the first quarter--are expected to be the catalyst in attracting more than an estimated $1 billion worth of new commercial, retail and hospitality ventures to the once barren southwest corner of International Drive South and Osceola Parkway in neighboring Osceola County.

"The time has arrived for that submarket," Dean Fritchen, senior associate, Arvida Realty Services Inc., tells GlobeSt.com. "It will be a gold mine in 10 years."