Doug Cone has spent decades building a business and a life in Ocala. Originally from Tampa, Doug decided to leave his established family roots in 1983 and move to what was then known as “Slow-cala”. Since then, he has grown a small beverage distributorship into a company generating more than $300 million in annual revenue and employing more than 300 people. Along the way, he has become an active part of the community, including serving two consecutive terms as Chairman of the Ocala/Marion County Chamber and Economic Partnership.
Therefore, when Doug talks about the new AC Hotel by Marriott Downtown Ocala taking shape in Ocala, he is not speaking as someone who has simply found an interesting investment opportunity. He is talking about a city he knows well, a community he has helped build, and a project he hopes will contribute something lasting.
The hotel is also a new chapter for Doug personally. His career has been primarily in the beverage industry for 40 years, and the hotel business was not exactly on the horizon.
“If somebody had told me three years ago that I was going to be in the hotel business, I would have told them they were absolutely out of their minds.”
What changed was a conversation with a longtime friend.
A Shared Vision for Downtown
Doug had acquired what he describes as a phenomenal piece of property in downtown Ocala. He began talking with Navroz Saju, Founder and Principal of HDG Legacy, about what the site could become.
The Saju family has been part of Ocala’s hospitality industry since the early 1980s, beginning with the Econo Lodge Ocala in 1981, now the Howard Johnson by Wyndham Ocala I-75. Like Doug, Navroz has deep roots in the community as a business leader, employer, and supporter of local organizations and initiatives showing his affinity for the Ocala Metro area.
The two had known each other for 20 years, and their friendship helped turn a promising piece of real estate into a shared vision for downtown. They agreed the property could become a hotel, but they did not want to build just any hotel.
“We wanted a property that we could not only be proud of, but one that the Ocala community could be proud of.”
That idea became the starting point for the AC Hotel by Marriott Downtown Ocala, a project with the capacity to be catalytic for the city’s strategic vision for downtown.
More Than a Place to Stay
The vision was to take the AC concept a little further, with features that would give people a reason to spend time downtown, whether they were visiting Ocala or already called it home.
The plans include a rooftop component, a high-end 6th floor restaurant serving Italian coastal Mediterranean cuisine, a rooftop bar with outside sitting area overlooking Downtown Ocala, over 3,000 square feet of sixth floor meeting and event space and a second-floor speakeasy. Doug sees the restaurant and speakeasy as something new for the local experience, not simply amenities for hotel guests.
There is even a secret passcode for getting into the speakeasy, which Doug says will be revealed later. It is a small detail, but it says something about the spirit of the project.
The goal is to create a destination with a sense of discovery leading to more visitation which will be positively impactful to all the nearby businesses. For Doug, something new that people will be curious about and want to experience fits into a much bigger vision for what the hotel can mean to a city.
Every Great City Has a Great Downtown
Doug sees the AC Hotel by Marriott Downtown Ocala as an anchoring project for downtown Ocala that can help encourage further development and redevelopment. The hotel will serve both leisure and business travelers. With the county, state and federal courthouses directly across the street, the property is already generating interest from lawyers and others who come to Ocala for depositions and legal proceedings.
The impact he hopes for goes beyond hotel occupancy.
He wants the restaurant and speakeasy to bring new energy to downtown, attract additional businesses, and give residents of Ocala and Marion County another place to gather. He hopes the hotel becomes a go-to destination and a point of pride for the community, all in alignment with the city’s strategic plan for downtown Ocala.
For Doug, the hotel is not separate from the community around it. Its success and downtown’s continued development are closely connected. He has watched downtown evolve over the four decades he has lived in Ocala. He points to City Manager Pete Lee as someone who understands the importance of a vibrant downtown and sees the hotel as part of that continued progress.
The project will also involve working with local organizations and stakeholders, including the Ocala Metro Chamber and Economic Partnership, the Ocala/Marion County Visitor and Convention Bureau, and the Ocala Main Street organization.
A Skyline Taking Shape
One of Doug’s favourite ways of describing the project is through a simple observation from his daily drive home. He takes Highway 40 and crosses the railroad overpass. For years, he has looked toward downtown from that same vantage point.
“For the first time in 40 years, I look into downtown and we actually have a skyline.”
That skyline is the AC Hotel by Marriott Downtown Ocala, along with the adjacent parking garage, which Doug says is badly needed and will complement the hotel. It is a visible sign of change in a city he has watched grow for decades. This gives the project a meaning that is difficult to capture in a list of hotel features or construction milestones, because the building is now part of the way people see downtown Ocala.
A Different Kind of Investment
The hotel represents a substantial investment for both Doug and Navroz, and, for Doug, a step outside the business he has spent his career building. He describes Team Cone as having been his life for 40 years. Now, he says, he is entering a new stage, and this project is something he finds both fun and impactful.
The relationship with Navroz was a significant part of what made the opportunity possible. Navroz jokingly refers to Doug as the “air traffic controller” on the project. Doug takes that as a compliment, particularly coming from a friend he has known for more than 20 years.
There is risk involved, he acknowledges, but he is confident in the reward, not only in the hotel itself, but in the relationships and team being built around it. He speaks about the continued relationships with local lenders and city staff, and the team who will be running the hotel every day.
He believes the team being assembled will drive high performance. That confidence comes from the same approach that has shaped his career: building relationships, working with good people, and taking a long view.
Looking Toward the Years Ahead
Doug says he is asked almost every day when the hotel will open. The project has been years in the making and years in construction. Now, he says, they are close to crossing the goal line.
“As owners and operators, yesterday would be great,” he says. “But we’re looking toward tomorrow and for years to come.”
Doug is proud of what he and Navroz are creating and clear about the standard they have set for themselves. “We’re not cutting any corners. This is going to be a premier property.” When completed and open in 2027, the AC Hotel by Marriott Downtown Ocala will be the largest AC Hotel in Florida.
For someone who has spent more than four decades building a business that has helped shape growth in Ocala, this hotel project is a different kind of undertaking, but Doug’s approach is familiar. Invest in something meaningful, work with people you trust, and create something that can contribute to the place you call home.
The AC Hotel by Marriott Downtown Ocala will open in early 2027.
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