UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA CONFERENCE CENTER GAINESVILLE
Hodges Ward Elliott (“HWE”) has been exclusively retained to offer the opportunity to acquire the Hilton University of Florida Conference Center Gainesville (the “Hotel,”or the “Property”) located in Gainesville, Florida. The 248-key Hotel sits on 11-acres of land and opened in April of 2000. The Property features 25,000 SF of meeting space, an outdoor pool, fitness center, gift shop, and on-site restaurant & bar. The Hilton enjoys a location near the University of Florida (UF) and its various facilities, including the famed Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, home of the Florida Gators football team, and the Medical Cluster highlighted by UF Health Shands Hospital. The Property consistently attracts a strong base of both transient and business guests given its built-in demand from the university.
Investment Highlights
Steps Away from The University of Florida
The University of Florida, ranked as the 3rd largest public university in the United States with over 60,000 students and 19 Division I athletic programs, has a significant positive impact on the lodging market, and is directly across the street from the Hilton. The University provides an ongoing and growing year-round demand base with significant guestroom nights generated from both corporate and leisure travelers, enabling the Property to maximize revenue and profitability. UF, including its large student body, NCAA sports teams, and strategic research facilities provide continuous demand and resiliency for the Property. The Property is a preferred hotel provider of the Florida Gators and is also a popular choice for visiting college athletic programs.
Spread across 2,000 lush acres, UF ranks #7 among US News & World Report’s “Top Public Universities”. The University of Florida generates approximately $8 billion in annual contributions to the Florida economy. Additionally, the Gators Division I athletics program has catapulted the university to national prominence with 40 NCAA national team titles. Most recently, the University of Florida added to its storied athletic legacy by winning the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship during the 2025 March Madness tournament. This historic victory sparked a surge in national media coverage, a wave of alumni and fan travel, and celebratory events throughout Gainesville. The championship has further solidified UF’s status as an elite athletics institution, increasing the university’s visibility and reinforcing year-round demand generators for the Property.
Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, or “The Swamp,” seats over 91,000 fans and is regularly sold out for every home game, proving the stadium’s ability to generate exceptional lodging demand within the Gainesville market. Hilton guests are only a short walk to several of the University’s major attractions including the Southwest Recreation Center, Mark Boswick Golf Course, Condron Ballpark and the Curtis M. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, and the Florida Museum of Natural History. The Property is also located a short distance from Gainesville’s I-75 restaurant and retail corridor.
The Healthcare Benefit
Located fewer than two miles from the Property, The University of Florida Health Science Center (HSC) is a multidisciplinary academic health center located in Gainesville, Florida, and is dedicated to advancing health and wellbeing through research, education, and patient care. The HSC comprises six colleges, including the Colleges of Dentistry, Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Public Health and Health Professions, and Veterinary Medicine. These colleges offer a wide range of undergraduate, graduate, and professional degree programs, as well as continuing education and certificate programs.
In addition to research and education, the HSC provides patient care through its affiliated hospitals and clinics. The 1,237-bed UF Health Shands Hospital is the flagship hospital of the HSC and sees nearly 170,000 patients per year, providing a wide range of medical services, including emergency care, trauma care, cancer care, neurology, and pediatrics.
Further Development Potential
The Property benefits from an institutional-quality building situated on an expansive 11-acre site. Located within the University of Florida’s long-term student housing plan, the site offers potential for future development, with investors potentially leveraging the excess acreage for new student housing opportunities. Demand for student and faculty housing remains a key priority for the University, as many existing facilities have reached the end of their useful life and are being phased out. The Gainesville student housing market is further supported by strong fundamentals, including attractive rental rates, year-round twelve-month leases, low vacancy levels, and high operating margins.
Alachua County Sports and Events Center is a Game-Changer for Hotel Demand
The nearly $40 million Alachua County Sports and Events Center (ACSEC) officially opened in June 2023 and is a multi-purpose sports and events complex adjacent to the University of Florida, in the heart of Celebration Pointe. Located just seven minutes away, the Hilton is incredibly well positioned to capture a substantial portion of the estimated 116,000 new annual room-nights generated from ACSEC. In its first full year of operation, the facility hosted over 150 events and welcomed more than 300,000 attendees, exceeding initial projections and driving robust year-over-year growth in lodging demand across the market. The facility is designed to host a variety of gatherings, including sports tournaments, concerts, and community events. The complex includes a state-of-the-art indoor arena that can accommodate up to 3,000 spectators, 13 full-size basketball courts, 21 volleyball courts, and a stage for concerts and performances. There is also an outdoor stadium that can seat up to 1,500 people and includes a regulation-sized soccer field and a track. The influx of visitors driven by high-volume events frequently creates compression throughout the Gainesville hotel market, allowing Hilton UF to accommodate larger sports groups and command premium rates during peak demand periods. Alachua County and its advisers estimate the venue could generate $392 million in wages and nearly $24 million in county sales, tourism, and development taxes.
Abundance of Meeting Space with a Variety of Possibilities
The Property features 25,000 SF of meeting space (approximately 100 SF per room), allowing the Asset to be the pre-eminent conference center hotel in the market where administration, academic departments, alumnae and sports groups require adequate space and services to gather.
The competitive set is conspicuously absent of hotels with adequate meeting space. The Hilton has 25,000 square feet of event space. The next highest meeting space hotel has only 6,700 square feet. For group business, the Hilton is the only game in town with onsite meeting space and this is especially important to University of Florida.
Institutional Physical Asset with Potential Opportunity for Repositioning
The Property encompasses 593,600 square feet and is currently configured as a 248-room hotel, having last undergone a renovation in 2018. The asset has been careully maintained by institutional ownership, presenting a rare opportunity to acquire a high-quality, well-positioned hotel below replacement cost.
The Hilton franchise agreement is set to expire in February 2026, offering significant flexibility for rebranding and repositioning. Alternatively, a new owner may choose to remain within the Hilton brand family, such as transitioning to a Graduate or Curio Collection or other lifestyle-oriented flag, which could unlock additional rate potential and elevate the Property’s market positioning. Investors may consider a high-end strategic approach modeled after successful university-affiliated assets like the Alfond Inn at Rollins College, the Biltmore Hotel at Georgia Tech, or the Morris Inn at Notre Dame.
Muted Hotel Supply Pipeline with Growing Demand Supports Asset Performance
There are currently no competitive full-service hotels under construction or in final planning within a 10-mile radius, ensuring the Hilton maintains a dominant position in the market. With no new large-scale conference hotels in the pipeline, the property is well-insulated from future competition, allowing for stable occupancy and pricing power.
Historical performance data since 2001 highlights two distinct waves of hotel development in Gainesville (2006–2010 and 2017–2020). In both cases, the market swiftly absorbed new supply, with occupancy returning to a stable 75-76%.
Inexpensive Ground Lease
The Property benefits from a minimal ground lease payment of only $40,000 per year, or $160 per year per room. The lease has considerable remaining term and expires in 2073.
Unencumbered by Management
The Hilton University of Florida Conference Center Gainesville is being offered unencumbered by the existing management agreement, providing a new owner with complete flexibility to implement their own operational strategy. This freedom allows for the introduction of innovative management practices, tailored service models, and revenue optimization initiatives to capture additional market share and enhance overall profitability. Alternatively, a new owner may elect to retain the incumbent operator, who has successfully maintained a RevPAR index that consistently outperforms market peers, demonstrating the property’s strong competitive positioning. Certain management firms also bring access to a robust national network of group sales and industry relationships, which can further amplify the property’s visibility and revenue generation capabilities across corporate, university, and leisure segments.