Sonesta International Hotels Corp. will open an 18,000-square-foot office in downtown Orlando, with space for a total of 100 employees. The buildout for the space will start immediately, reports the Orlando Business Journal, with a planned opening in June. Sonesta, based in Massachusetts, is currently hiring for Orlando positions.
“Sonesta considered cities in Texas, Virginia and Florida for this new corporate office and chose Orlando for its talent and expertise in both tourism and financial services,” Orlando Economic Partnership President and CEO Tim Giuliani said in a prepared statement, and reported in OBJ. “As America’s most loved destination, this is the ideal location for Sonesta to locate and there is no doubt that they will find the perfect talent to fill their new jobs. Sonesta’s decision is evidence that Orlando’s economic recovery is well under way, and our community is welcoming both new visitors and companies to our famed destination.”
The company was approved unanimously for $360,000 in incentives across two programs during the Orlando City Council's March 22 meeting. The incentives are tied to creating 80 jobs over a two-year period in accordance with the agreement. Sonesta's capital investment related to the new office would be about $1.05 million over a five-year period.
Meanwhile, Sonesta plans to grow from 290 hotels in first-quarter 2021 to roughly 1,200 hotels by second-quarter 2021, which includes properties via an acquisition, according to documents tied to the approved incentives. The company announced it acquired Denver-based RLH Corp. (NYSE: RLH) on March 17 — making RLH private and a wholly-owned subsidiary.