But Orange Circuit Court Judge William C. Gridley sees it differently. Gridley denied a claim by RH Resorts, owned by Harris Rosen, Florida's largest independent hotel owner with 10,000 rooms. Rosen tells GlobeSt.com he will be appealing the judge's ruling to the Fifth District Court of Appeal in Daytona Beach.
For Rosen, the ruling means his annual tax bill on 230 prime undeveloped acres in the tourist corridor will be $467,000 instead of the $26,812 he has claimed. Rosen bought 250 acres from Universal Orlando in 2001 for $29.6 million on $118,400 per acre. He donated 20 acres to the University of Central Florida.
For Donegan, the victory means his office now has leverage in taking on Vivendi Universal, Hilton Hotels Corp., Hyatt Corp. and Sierra Florida Properties in pending similar separate suits. For Orange County, future victories against hotel owners could mean a total $4.5 million in new annual tax revenue, Donegan's office confirms to GlobeSt.com.
The tax assessment ruling against Rosen comes as the $28-million, 160,000-sf Rosen School of Hospitality Management prepares to welcome its first students in January. Rosen donated 20 acres of the land now in dispute and $18.2 million to the University of Central Florida to develop the hotel school which is believed to be the first of its kind in the Southeast.
Other donors are Orlando/Orange County Convention & Visitors Bureau, $5 million; Darden Restaurants Inc. and Walt Disney World, $2 million each; Universal Orlando Foundation, $1 million; and Anheuser-Busch Foundation/Sea World, $500,000.
Continue Reading for Free
Register and gain access to:
- Breaking commercial real estate news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical coverage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
