Hilton Plans to Build a Couple of Fancy Hotels in the U.S.

Hilton Hotels Corporation plans to build a 1,000-room Hilton and a 500-room Waldorf-Astoria at Bonnet Creek, a resort development adjacent to the Walt Disney World Resort.

Construction of the project is currently in the design phase and is on schedule to break ground by the end of 2006 and to open in the summer of 2009.

GEM Realty Capital, Inc., with Merrill Lynch Global Principal Investments and another private investment company, will partner with Bonnet Creek Venture, Ltd. and Hilton Hotels Corporation to develop and own the resort.

Bonnet Creek Venture, Ltd., a joint venture between Brooksville Development Corporation and the estate of the original owner of the property, will oversee construction and ensure delivery of the project.

The properties will be managed by Hilton Hotels Corporation.

The two hotels announced today will have a combined total of 145,000 square feet of meeting space, of which 115,000 square feet will be located in a conference facility.