Resort to include waterfall.

Byline: Daphne Sashin

Jul. 12--KISSIMMEE -- Nearly three years after the Hyatt Orlando closed its doors, consultants for the new owner vowed to turn the property into "a landmark in Central Florida." The Landmark Sun and Spa Resort, at the northeast corner of Interstate 4 and U.S. Highway 192, will feature a 378-room hotel with a 160,000-square-foot conference center and a three-story waterfall. It will also have five high-rise condominium-hotel buildings, with a lagoon running through the site. The buildings will feature glass and metal panels, materials not commonly used locally, Orlando architect Timothy Aebie said. "There's certainly nothing like this in Central Florida currently," Aebie said Tuesday, sharing the latest designs with tourism officials at a lunch put on by the Kissimmee-Osceola County Chamber of Commerce. "We wanted to create something that has staying power." The Landmark resort is the latest example of an emerging luxury hotel market in Osceola, which historically has catered to bargain-seeking tourists. Another is developer Rob Miller's $4 billion Legacy Resort, which recently broke ground off Osceola Parkway and is projected to generate more than $80 million a year in tax proceeds for the county. "It's just what this county needs," County Commissioner Bill Lane said after the presentation. The two projects would be "good venues to draw ...