Michael Dezer takes a no-nonsense approach to his real estate acquisitions: “I transform crap into gold.”
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His latest endeavor may require such alchemy.
Club Wyndham Orlando International, a 1981-built legacy timeshare, was a resort under Travel + Leisure Co., but the parent company issued its official closure statement on July 15, 2025, which triggered the timeshare’s association members to hold a special meeting where they voted to wind down operations and suspend occupancy. The association then filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
All units at Club Wyndham Orlando International have two bedrooms and a view of the pool from the living room. (Photo by Sarah Kinbar)
Club Wyndham Orlando International was built in 1981 and since then has changed hands more than once. (Photo by Sarah Kinbar)
While the decor in the units is outdated, the rooms have been well-maintained and could easily be modernized with a design refresh. (Photo by Sarah Kinbar)
Half the units at Club Wyndham Orlando International are single floor while the rest are townhouse style. The second-floor townhouses have an arial view of the pool. (Photo by Sarah Kinbar)
Now, Dezer Development, the Sunny Isles Beach-based real estate firm led by billionaire developer Dezer, is under contract to acquire the timeshare, a 4.6-acre, 63-unit complex at 5353 Del Verde Way, across the road from Dezerland Park Orlando entertainment complex. Given the spaciousness of the units and proximity to Universal parks and Fun Spot, the site could be modernized and turned into a hotel of family suites.
Dezer also mentioned tearing it down and building something new, but he is reluctant to finalize plans for the Club Wyndham site before the transaction closes.
Federal bankruptcy judge Grace E. Robson approved the $8.1 million sale on May 18, with closing expected in September. Industry experts say the case could become one of the first major examples of a broader wave of aging Orlando timeshare resorts being liquidated and repurposed through bankruptcy court.
“The Club Wyndham sale is the first of this kind in Orlando, but it won’t be the last,” said Paul Sexton, managing director in the Orlando office of Hospitality Real Estate Counselors (HREC). “We will see more properties transact in the next few years. Alternate uses could include traditional resort operations, or conversion to multifamily or senior housing.”
Another aging Central Florida timeshare property, Star Island Resort in Kissimmee, is already moving through a remarkably similar Chapter 11 restructuring aimed at selling the property free and clear of thousands of timeshare interests.
To understand why Orlando International Resort Club and similar properties are flailing, one must look at demographics. Many of these first-generation, or “Gen 1,” timeshare resorts were built in the late 1970s and 1980s. Decades later, many are struggling to survive.
“The ownership base has also been aging and, as such, they are often no longer able to pay their maintenance fees, causing the properties to deteriorate due to lack of maintenance,” Sexton noted. While homeowners’ associations often foreclose on abandoned weeks, they frequently struggle to monetize them, leaving resorts without the funding necessary for major renovations or capital improvements.
Selling the resort to a developer is an obvious solution. But clearing title on a property with thousands of owners, some deceased and others impossible to find, can be a logistical nightmare.
That’s where Section 363(h) of the bankruptcy code comes in.
Scott Shuker of Shuker & Dorris, P.A., the local attorney handling the resort’s Chapter 11 case, explained the mechanism.
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“Bottom line, Bankruptcy Code Section 363(h) allows the sale of a debtor and a co-owner’s interest free of claims,” Shuker stated.
By moving the resort through bankruptcy court, the property can effectively be de-timeshared.
According to the court’s sale order, the transaction transfers the resort to Dezer ‘free and clear’ of all liens and encumbrances, effectively extinguishing all existing timeshare estates, points, and use rights and shifting those owners’ remaining legal claims entirely to the cash proceeds generated by the sale.
Court filings show the HOA owned just 1.92% of the resort’s 3,276 unit weeks. Wyndham Vacation Resorts held 16.94%, PTVO Owners Association held 40.72%, and the remaining 40.42% was held by thousands of individual interval owners. Following the sale, the $8.1 million purchase price will be distributed among former owners based on their ownership shares.
With the timeshare interests legally cleared, the next step concerns Dezer’s redevelopment strategy for the resort. Several possibilities are under discussion.
On May 19, Dezer walked the site with International Drive business owner Joshua Wallack, CEO of Wallack Holdings LLC, and Wallack commented that more deals like this one could ultimately transform North International Drive.
“Michael has reformed the former Artegon Mall, and in the same area has built hundreds of apartment units with more to come. This timeshare acquisition is an important piece of the puzzle and gives a master developer with endless capital more hold over formerly fallow properties. That’s how you make vision into reality,” he said.
For now, Club Wyndham Orlando International sits in limbo between its past and future. But industry observers say it could become one of the first major examples of how aging timeshare resorts across Central Florida are restructured, liquidated, and redeveloped through bankruptcy court.
Have a tip about Central Florida development? Contact me at [email protected] or (407) 420-5246. Follow GrowthSpotter on Facebook and LinkedIn.
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