'Fly-in hotel,' conference center, rooftop bar proposed at Orlando Melbourne airport

Rick Neale
Florida Today

A development team hopes to build a "fly-in hotel" featuring a conference center and rooftop restaurant-bar near the Orlando Melbourne International Airport passenger terminal.

Target fly-in hotel site: the NASA Boulevard grassy lot across the street from Kindred Hospital. Thousands of people converged on this airport-owned parcel during last month's FLORIDA TODAY Corporate 5K. 

Built along the airport perimeter fencing, the fly-in hotel would be open to the general public and air travelers alike. Aircraft could land and taxi to an apron outside the hotel, where passengers could walk directly inside. A covered walkway would also link the hotel with the terminal.

"Even when you think about the hotels that are at major airports in Central Florida — Tampa, MCO — those are hotels that are inside terminals. You don't have accessibility from a general-aviation standpoint," Greg Donovan, airport executive director, said Wednesday.

"Add to it the component of having a 25,000-square-foot conference center. All the hotels we have in this area do a fantastic job. It's not any type of indication of any sort of dissatisfaction with that. But I think our community — and we hear from folks like FIT and all of our major businesses — asks for a bigger square-footage location," Donovan said.

"This serves that purpose," he said.

Wednesday, the Melbourne Airport Authority authorized fly-hotel negotiations with Virtua Partners, a commercial real estate firm based in Scottsdale, Arizona; BRPH Architects-Engineers of Suntree; and Welbro Building Corp. of Maitland. This team wants to design, construct and manage the facility.

Neither a deal nor a land lease have been reached. The hotel brand remains unknown, and the airport authority would vote on any proposed agreement before the idea becomes reality.

Virtua Partners has more than 118 hotels in 30 states, primarily supporting Hilton and Marriott, said Roger Anderson, BRPH lead commercial design manager. The firm is developing similar fly-in hotels in Colorado Springs and Birmingham, Alabama.

"They see this to assist the business development of the Florida region. They want to provide for travelers and the local companies here, like Northrop Grumman and FIT and Harris and Embraer," Anderson told the airport board.

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Donovan said Embraer President Gary Spulak has asked for such a facility for some time. Donovan also said negotiations continue with an undisclosed airline that would require “a tremendous amount of space,” so the airport administration could relocate its offices to the hotel if needed.

The airport's capital investment costs to develop the fly-in hotel remain unknown. The hotel would replace a row of T-hangars, which would be replaced elsewhere on the south side of the airport.

Neale is the South Brevard watchdog reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. 

Contact Neale at 321-242-3638 or rneale@floridatoday.com. Twitter: @RickNeale1

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This artist's rendering depicts the proposed "fly-in hotel" at Orlando Melbourne International Airport.
This artist's rendering depicts the proposed "fly-in hotel" at Orlando Melbourne International Airport.
This artist's rendering depicts the proposed "fly-in hotel" at Orlando Melbourne International Airport.