Hilton hotel planned for Orlando

Aug. 4--Church Street Station's latest developer-to-the-rescue Cameron Kuhn appears to have fizzled out like so many before him.

Tremont Net Funding, the lender that gave Kuhn $43 million to buy the complex last year, filed a foreclosure suit against him last week.

The good news: The leader of a hotel group that had been considering the site told me he still intends to move forward with plans to build a full-service Hilton Hotel off Garland Avenue next to the Church Street Ballroom.

"We're currently working on finalizing everything with the city," said Bob Voelker, whose Gateway Hospitality Group owns Hiltons in multiple states. "Getting our financing all in line, it takes some time to do that because of the detail associated with the project."

If the foreclosure goes through, Tremont would have control of the property and have say over its development.

The bad news: It's unclear if the hotel will be built in time to help the current tenants, a collection of restaurants and bars, which have fought to be successful on Church Street since January.

The hotel could be the boost to finally lift the complex out of its two steps forward, one step back routine brought on by a line of owners during the past decade who all misfired when it came to restoring the property.