A new vacation village is under development in the Orlando market minutes outside Walt Disney World Resort, and buyers can own a piece years before it opens.
Sales have launched for Ambar Residences, Apartments by Marriott Bonvoy, a new product from Florida-based developer The Big Key Group in collaboration with the international hotel chain. The development combines ownership with rentals, putting a limit on how long the owners can stay per year.
Expected to open in the first quarter of 2028, Ambar will have 322 units across three towers. The property will include a mix of studio apartments up to three-bedroom units, fully furnished and professionally maintained, ranging from 533 square feet to 1,185 square feet. Prices start in the mid-$300,000s.
Features will include a grab-and-go market, a 7,000-square-foot pool with vintage food truck on the patio, a 2,000-square-foot fitness center and daily shuttles to the theme parks, including Disney, Universal Orlando and SeaWorld.
Sitting just west of Walt Disney World Resort on U.S. 192, Ambar will also have programming such as movies in the pool and yoga on the green. The apartments have full kitchens stocked with cooking utensils.
“If the family wants to call ahead to have groceries delivered to the property, we’ll have coolers for that, so right on arrival, they can get to making meals,” Big Key Group cofounder Nate Siehr told Homes.com.
“Families also get 'parked out' after a couple of days,” Siehr said. “They want to have a space where they can just exist, relax and hang out.”
Owners buy to rent
Siehr worked at Marriott for 13 years, including in 2022 when the company created the Apartments by Marriott Bonvoy brand.
“The Apartments by Marriott brand was created to service multigenerational travelers and long-term business travelers,” Siehr told Homes.com.
Ownership is somewhat different from the usual condo sales. Unlike a timeshare, owners do own their unit entirely, according to Siehr, but they can stay in it only 30 days per year. If residents stayed longer, the development would have to pay impact fees to the Osceola County school board. (Owners pay property taxes on their individual units. The county charges impact fees to developers, though those costs can be passed on to the customer.)
For the rest of the year, owners can rent out the property themselves or leave it to Marriott to handle it for them. “Homeowners in the rental program will receive a monthly statement showing a breakdown of rental activity, revenues and expenses with respect to their residence,” Siehr said. “Profits are then distributed to the homeowner.”
Siehr was unable to share anticipated rental rates.
Owners are not required to rent, however. “Individual residence owners are not required to rent their unit,” Siehr said. “The rental program is voluntary and independent of the sales program.”
Owners also retain the full right to sell their units and set their own asking prices.
The name Ambar is the Spanish word for "amber." Siehr said one reason was as a nod to the Latin-American population of Florida.
“The other nod is to what brought people to Florida in the first place,” Siehr said, referring to the color of the sunset. “It’s really about the lifestyle.”