Latest news: Big Louisville conversion; Orlando EB-5 deal; $360M loan for Four Seasons

Louisville tower converting to hotel. Louisville, Kentucky-based Poe Companies is converting The Humana Tower in Louisville, Kentucky, into a dual-tower, 1,000-key convention center hotel. The project will cost around $600-700 million and the hotel will include restaurants, 100,000 sq. ft. of meeting space and a 40,000 sq. ft. ballroom. Construction is expected to begin in 2027 and will last three to four years.

Orlando development. San Francisco-based JMA Ventures and Cyprus-based Mohari Hospitality are developing Westcourt Downtown Orlando, a 269-key property that will be operated under IHG’s Kimpton brand. The project will be part of a large-scale mixed-use development directly adjacent to the NBA’s Orlando Magic arena. The overall project is being developed by Machete Group and SED Development, an entity wholly owned by the DeVos family, owners of the Magic. JMA and Mohari are using an EB-5 investment structure for the hotel development, which is being offered as a senior-secured loan with a three-year term, plus two optional one-year extensions.

$360M financing for Jacksonville Four Seasons. Chicago-based Shanna Collective and Jacksonville, Florida-based Iguana Investments secured $360 million in construction financing from the Goldman Sachs Private Bank for the development of the Four Seasons Hotel and Residences Jacksonville, according to Connect CRE. The JV said it’s the largest financing package ever awarded in the city’s history for a private project. The project’s construction continues to advance, with both the 10-story residential and hotel components topping off in August 2025.

IHG is debuting Kimpton in Qatar. IHG Hotels & Resorts has signed the 283-key Kimpton Al Rowda Doha, a luxury lifestyle hotel that is scheduled to open in mid-2026. This will be the first Kimpton in Qatar and continues the brand's successful launch in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, with openings in Dubai and Jeddah to follow later this year. IHG currently operates eight hotels in Qatar across five brands.

Choice redesign of Everhome prototype. Choice Hotels International is debuting its newly redesigned prototype for its Everhome Suites brand. Choice said the prototype was created to reduce construction costs by approximately 13%, improve operational efficiency, and elevate the guest experience. The new prototype also increases capacity to approximately 120 rooms. The first groundbreakings for the new prototype are expected in the coming months.

NYC Mandarin condo price drop. Some of the condos at New York’s Mandarin Oriental development will be put up for sale with reduced pricing after years of struggling to find buyers, according to a report in Bloomberg. Serhant New Development is set to lead a revamped sales effort at the Mandarin Oriental residences, including cutting the asking prices of remaining units on the market by 20% on average. Around a third of the condos have been offloaded since sales first launched in 2021.

International dip hits Disney. International visitation to Disney's domestic theme parks is down, but overall attendance is up due to increased promotions and marketing in the U.S., according to Disney CFO Hugh Johnston. Johnston did not provide details on the decline in international visitors, except that Disney expects it will remain a headwind in the second fiscal quarter. Johnston said the Walt Disney World Resort in Florid recorded “strong attendance and performance as well as strong pricing performance.” Bookings for the full year are up 5%, Johnston said, weighted toward the back half of the year. It's “certainly trending very positively in that regard.”

Inspirato acquisition closes. The Exclusive Collection has completed its previously announced acquisition of Inspirato. Under the terms of the transaction, Exclusive Investments acquired all outstanding shares of Inspirato Class A common stock for $4.27 per share, in an all-cash transaction, valuing Inspirato at approximately $59 million on a fully diluted basis. The purchase price represented an approximately 50% premium to Inspirato’s closing price on December 16, 2025, the last trading day prior to the original announcement. Following the closing, Inspirato becomes a privately held company and its Class A common stock is no longer listed or traded on Nasdaq.