Orlando will pay $6 million to bring Travel + Leisure downtown

Orlando city commissioners signed off on an incentive package of more than $6 million this week to bring Travel + Leisure up the road to a planned headquarters downtown.

The company, formally Wyndham Destinations, plans to move its more than 900 current employees into 501 W. Church Street, near the Kia Center, from its current office in Williamsburg near SeaWorld Orlando. Travel + Leisure also plans to hire 102 more people in the coming years.

The agreements mark a culmination of talks Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer first revealed publicly in his State of Downtown speech last September.

Over the years, the city has used a variety of incentives to convince marquee companies ranging from Electronic Arts to Sonesta to bring their corporate offices to Orlando, in hopes that high-paying jobs will bolster the local economy. In the city’s 2019 deal with EA, the company, which moved from nearby Maitland, will recoup up to $9 million in property taxes if it maintains a workforce of at least 600 people at its new studio in Creative Village.

The city and its Community Redevelopment Agency offered separate incentives to facilitate the Travel + Leisure move, and both were approved by unanimous votes.

The city’s deal calls for paying out up to $2,250 per job over 8 years, with a maximum subsidy of $2,272,500, according to a city council agenda item. The positions will pay a median wage of $109,136, according to the agreement.

The company, which manages a portfolio of more than 20 timeshare resorts and travel brands, could receive up to another $4,000 per job through the CRA, or $4,040,000 over 10 years.

The agreement with the CRA states that Travel + Leisure will receive $2,000 per “high wage high value” job created, as well as another $2,000 per job under a program crafted to lure companies to set up offices with at least 750 employees in Parramore, a neighborhood city officials have worked develop economically.

Its 102 new positions are expected to pay 200% of the average annual wage in Orange County – or $120,934 – as part of the agreement with the CRA.

“Our move to Downtown Orlando will help us attract and retain outstanding talent in a competitive marketplace, while providing a modern office environment in the heart of our growing city,” said Kimberly Marshall, Travel + Leisure Co.’s chief human resources officer in a statement.

The company plans to spend $29.5 million building out its new office space at the corner of Church Street and Division Avenue.

It will move downtown after its current lease expires next year.

rygillespie@orlandosentinel.com