Downtown Tempe businesses see construction of a Residence Inn by Marriott hotel as a sign that commerce in the Mill Avenue District is on the mend from a difficult economy.
Nancy Hormann, president of the Downtown Tempe Community, which manages the Mill Avenue District for landowners, considers the new hotel that is under construction at Forest Avenue and Fifth Street a boost for downtown merchants.
Hormann said downtown business owners are so delighted that they are referring to the towering crane at the hotel-construction site as the "official bird of downtown Tempe."
The hotel is expected to open late next year or in early 2014.
After struggling through the tough economy, which stalled many high-profile Valley developments, including the Tempe Marriott hotel, business owners are looking forward to the increased foot traffic expected downtown when the hotel opens.
"To have cranes, to have building going on, it's ... like, 'OK, we're on the rise again,' " Hormann said. "Having that long-awaited development actually happen, really, to me, shows that our economy is turning around and, as we predicted, downtown Tempe is being one of the first to benefit."
Construction on the 173-room, 11-story hotel was supposed to start in early 2008, but the project was stalled when the economy nosedived.
The Residence Inn is just east of City Hall and across the street from Tempe police headquarters.
The site once was home of the popular Bandersnatch Brew Pub, a bar and microbrewery.
As part of the developer's agreement with the city, Tempe built a parking garage next to the lot to serve the hotel and city employees.
But when the economy crashed and construction on the hotel stalled, the garage became the backdrop for an acre of dirt. The garage includes retail and business space that Tempe development officials predicted would be leased when the hotel was constructed.
In 2010, the Downtown Tempe Community built an urban-community garden on the empty lot to improve the site until the economy turned.
The garden closed last year when plans were announced that construction on the hotel would start within the year.
The hotel will have suites with kitchens. Amenities will include 3,600 square feet of meeting space, a restaurant, business center, fitness center and rooftop pool and fire pit, according to the website of Florida-based developer Finvarb Group.
by Dianna M. Náñez - Jul. 9, 2012 The Republic | azcentral.com
Hotel going up in Tempe a symbol of rejuvenation
Showing posts with label hotels. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hotels. Show all posts
Saturday, August 18, 2012
Hotel going up in Tempe a symbol of rejuvenation
Downtown Tempe businesses see construction of a Residence Inn by Marriott hotel as a sign that commerce in the Mill Avenue District is on the mend from a difficult economy.
Nancy Hormann, president of the Downtown Tempe Community, which manages the Mill Avenue District for landowners, considers the new hotel that is under construction at Forest Avenue and Fifth Street a boost for downtown merchants.
Hormann said downtown business owners are so delighted that they are referring to the towering crane at the hotel-construction site as the "official bird of downtown Tempe."
The hotel is expected to open late next year or in early 2014.
After struggling through the tough economy, which stalled many high-profile Valley developments, including the Tempe Marriott hotel, business owners are looking forward to the increased foot traffic expected downtown when the hotel opens.
"To have cranes, to have building going on, it's ... like, 'OK, we're on the rise again,' " Hormann said. "Having that long-awaited development actually happen, really, to me, shows that our economy is turning around and, as we predicted, downtown Tempe is being one of the first to benefit."
Construction on the 173-room, 11-story hotel was supposed to start in early 2008, but the project was stalled when the economy nosedived.
The Residence Inn is just east of City Hall and across the street from Tempe police headquarters.
The site once was home of the popular Bandersnatch Brew Pub, a bar and microbrewery.
As part of the developer's agreement with the city, Tempe built a parking garage next to the lot to serve the hotel and city employees.
But when the economy crashed and construction on the hotel stalled, the garage became the backdrop for an acre of dirt. The garage includes retail and business space that Tempe development officials predicted would be leased when the hotel was constructed.
In 2010, the Downtown Tempe Community built an urban-community garden on the empty lot to improve the site until the economy turned.
The garden closed last year when plans were announced that construction on the hotel would start within the year.
The hotel will have suites with kitchens. Amenities will include 3,600 square feet of meeting space, a restaurant, business center, fitness center and rooftop pool and fire pit, according to the website of Florida-based developer Finvarb Group.
by Dianna M. Náñez - Jul. 9, 2012 The Republic | azcentral.com
Hotel going up in Tempe a symbol of rejuvenation
Nancy Hormann, president of the Downtown Tempe Community, which manages the Mill Avenue District for landowners, considers the new hotel that is under construction at Forest Avenue and Fifth Street a boost for downtown merchants.
Hormann said downtown business owners are so delighted that they are referring to the towering crane at the hotel-construction site as the "official bird of downtown Tempe."
The hotel is expected to open late next year or in early 2014.
After struggling through the tough economy, which stalled many high-profile Valley developments, including the Tempe Marriott hotel, business owners are looking forward to the increased foot traffic expected downtown when the hotel opens.
"To have cranes, to have building going on, it's ... like, 'OK, we're on the rise again,' " Hormann said. "Having that long-awaited development actually happen, really, to me, shows that our economy is turning around and, as we predicted, downtown Tempe is being one of the first to benefit."
Construction on the 173-room, 11-story hotel was supposed to start in early 2008, but the project was stalled when the economy nosedived.
The Residence Inn is just east of City Hall and across the street from Tempe police headquarters.
The site once was home of the popular Bandersnatch Brew Pub, a bar and microbrewery.
As part of the developer's agreement with the city, Tempe built a parking garage next to the lot to serve the hotel and city employees.
But when the economy crashed and construction on the hotel stalled, the garage became the backdrop for an acre of dirt. The garage includes retail and business space that Tempe development officials predicted would be leased when the hotel was constructed.
In 2010, the Downtown Tempe Community built an urban-community garden on the empty lot to improve the site until the economy turned.
The garden closed last year when plans were announced that construction on the hotel would start within the year.
The hotel will have suites with kitchens. Amenities will include 3,600 square feet of meeting space, a restaurant, business center, fitness center and rooftop pool and fire pit, according to the website of Florida-based developer Finvarb Group.
by Dianna M. Náñez - Jul. 9, 2012 The Republic | azcentral.com
Hotel going up in Tempe a symbol of rejuvenation
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Boutique Hotel Palomar Phoenix opens downtown
Cheryl Evans/The Republic A patio at the Hotel Palomar Phoenix downtown stands ready for guests. The hotel's pool bar and its restaurant are expected to draw as many locals as they do guests.
Performances by EPIK Urban Dance and the Phoenix Suns drum line, music by Urban Quartet and a block party were part of the fanfare at Thursday's grand-opening celebration for the Hotel Palomar Phoenix.
Phoenix officials and executives with RED Development and hotel operator Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants thought the festivities fitting for the $90 million hotel, the capstone of the two-block CityScape retail and office development at Central Avenue and Jefferson Street.
Cowboy chic meets "Mad Men" at this 10-floor property, where mirrors are framed by leather belts, burnt-red Japanese lanterns dangle in a daisy-chain over a stairway and some end tables look like suitcases tipped on their sides.
Hotel Palomar Phoenix offers more than 10,000 square feet of meeting space, including a chandeliered ballroom. The pool bar, Luster, and the restaurant, Blue Hound Kitchen & Cocktails, are expected to draw about as many locals as guests.
"New construction is something relatively new for us in the last five years," said Michael Depatie, Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants CEO and president.
Depatie said the company has renovated several existing buildings across the country for its Palomars, but that new construction such as the Palomar at CityScape is easier to complete. "You can just make what you want."
At its peak, the hotel will employ an estimated 250 workers, from check-in clerks to housekeeping staff. It has opened with 150. Depatie said he expects the hotel's sales will ramp up within the second or third year of opening.
The Palomar is on a gradually growing roster of downtown Phoenix hotels, including the Hotel San Carlos, Hyatt Regency Phoenix, Renaissance Phoenix Hotel, Sheraton Phoenix Downtown Hotel and the Westin Phoenix Downtown.
Six hotels may seem a lot for downtown, but John Chan, director of Phoenix's community and economic-development department, said it isn't.
The opening of the Palomar means the city now has less than 3,000 hotel rooms available for guests in downtown -- still short of the estimated 4,000 rooms city officials believe are necessary to draw the nation's biggest conventions to Phoenix.
More rooms will put Phoenix in a position to attract the biggest events and conventions in the country, such as the entertainment and fan activities to be held in downtown for the NFL's 2015 Super Bowl.
And those hotels could help put to full use the Phoenix Convention Center, a 2 million-square-foot facility that was expanded in 2008 through a $600 million voter-backed bond issue.
Chan said the Palomar will expand options for tourists and convention attendees.
"Palomar is a different type of hotel," he said, noting that it's "boutique." In hotel industry-speak, this means it's a high-end luxury hotel brand that may look much different from hotel to hotel -- some Palomars have been installed in older, existing buildings -- but offers similar guest services.
Steve Moore, president and CEO of the Greater Phoenix Convention & Visitors Bureau, which books big events and meetings for the convention center, said the Palomar has been long awaited.
"Over four years," Moore said. "It's pretty incredible."
Hotels have a broad set of stakeholders -- among them rental-car companies, restaurants, shops, the city, Maricopa County and the state -- that reap the sales taxes. Moore said a single hotel room in downtown Phoenix contributes an estimated $6,300 in tax revenue for the Phoenix area every year.
He added that the average room, which spans about 350 square feet, actually generates 10 percent more in tax revenue than a typical home in Phoenix.
Hotel Palomar Phoenix
By the numbers
2 bars.
10 floors.
12 deluxe studio suites.
16 suites.
242 rooms.
15,000 square feet of meeting space.
by Emily Gersema - Jun. 7, 2012 06:54 PM The Republic | azcentral.com
Boutique Hotel Palomar Phoenix opens downtown
Boutique Hotel Palomar Phoenix opens downtown
Cheryl Evans/The Republic A patio at the Hotel Palomar Phoenix downtown stands ready for guests. The hotel's pool bar and its restaurant are expected to draw as many locals as they do guests.
Performances by EPIK Urban Dance and the Phoenix Suns drum line, music by Urban Quartet and a block party were part of the fanfare at Thursday's grand-opening celebration for the Hotel Palomar Phoenix.
Phoenix officials and executives with RED Development and hotel operator Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants thought the festivities fitting for the $90 million hotel, the capstone of the two-block CityScape retail and office development at Central Avenue and Jefferson Street.
Cowboy chic meets "Mad Men" at this 10-floor property, where mirrors are framed by leather belts, burnt-red Japanese lanterns dangle in a daisy-chain over a stairway and some end tables look like suitcases tipped on their sides.
Hotel Palomar Phoenix offers more than 10,000 square feet of meeting space, including a chandeliered ballroom. The pool bar, Luster, and the restaurant, Blue Hound Kitchen & Cocktails, are expected to draw about as many locals as guests.
"New construction is something relatively new for us in the last five years," said Michael Depatie, Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants CEO and president.
Depatie said the company has renovated several existing buildings across the country for its Palomars, but that new construction such as the Palomar at CityScape is easier to complete. "You can just make what you want."
At its peak, the hotel will employ an estimated 250 workers, from check-in clerks to housekeeping staff. It has opened with 150. Depatie said he expects the hotel's sales will ramp up within the second or third year of opening.
The Palomar is on a gradually growing roster of downtown Phoenix hotels, including the Hotel San Carlos, Hyatt Regency Phoenix, Renaissance Phoenix Hotel, Sheraton Phoenix Downtown Hotel and the Westin Phoenix Downtown.
Six hotels may seem a lot for downtown, but John Chan, director of Phoenix's community and economic-development department, said it isn't.
The opening of the Palomar means the city now has less than 3,000 hotel rooms available for guests in downtown -- still short of the estimated 4,000 rooms city officials believe are necessary to draw the nation's biggest conventions to Phoenix.
More rooms will put Phoenix in a position to attract the biggest events and conventions in the country, such as the entertainment and fan activities to be held in downtown for the NFL's 2015 Super Bowl.
And those hotels could help put to full use the Phoenix Convention Center, a 2 million-square-foot facility that was expanded in 2008 through a $600 million voter-backed bond issue.
Chan said the Palomar will expand options for tourists and convention attendees.
"Palomar is a different type of hotel," he said, noting that it's "boutique." In hotel industry-speak, this means it's a high-end luxury hotel brand that may look much different from hotel to hotel -- some Palomars have been installed in older, existing buildings -- but offers similar guest services.
Steve Moore, president and CEO of the Greater Phoenix Convention & Visitors Bureau, which books big events and meetings for the convention center, said the Palomar has been long awaited.
"Over four years," Moore said. "It's pretty incredible."
Hotels have a broad set of stakeholders -- among them rental-car companies, restaurants, shops, the city, Maricopa County and the state -- that reap the sales taxes. Moore said a single hotel room in downtown Phoenix contributes an estimated $6,300 in tax revenue for the Phoenix area every year.
He added that the average room, which spans about 350 square feet, actually generates 10 percent more in tax revenue than a typical home in Phoenix.
Hotel Palomar Phoenix
By the numbers
2 bars.
10 floors.
12 deluxe studio suites.
16 suites.
242 rooms.
15,000 square feet of meeting space.
by Emily Gersema - Jun. 7, 2012 06:54 PM The Republic | azcentral.com
Boutique Hotel Palomar Phoenix opens downtown
Boutique Hotel Palomar Phoenix opens downtown
Cheryl Evans/The Republic A patio at the Hotel Palomar Phoenix downtown stands ready for guests. The hotel's pool bar and its restaurant are expected to draw as many locals as they do guests.
Performances by EPIK Urban Dance and the Phoenix Suns drum line, music by Urban Quartet and a block party were part of the fanfare at Thursday's grand-opening celebration for the Hotel Palomar Phoenix.
Phoenix officials and executives with RED Development and hotel operator Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants thought the festivities fitting for the $90 million hotel, the capstone of the two-block CityScape retail and office development at Central Avenue and Jefferson Street.
Cowboy chic meets "Mad Men" at this 10-floor property, where mirrors are framed by leather belts, burnt-red Japanese lanterns dangle in a daisy-chain over a stairway and some end tables look like suitcases tipped on their sides.
Hotel Palomar Phoenix offers more than 10,000 square feet of meeting space, including a chandeliered ballroom. The pool bar, Luster, and the restaurant, Blue Hound Kitchen & Cocktails, are expected to draw about as many locals as guests.
"New construction is something relatively new for us in the last five years," said Michael Depatie, Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants CEO and president.
Depatie said the company has renovated several existing buildings across the country for its Palomars, but that new construction such as the Palomar at CityScape is easier to complete. "You can just make what you want."
At its peak, the hotel will employ an estimated 250 workers, from check-in clerks to housekeeping staff. It has opened with 150. Depatie said he expects the hotel's sales will ramp up within the second or third year of opening.
The Palomar is on a gradually growing roster of downtown Phoenix hotels, including the Hotel San Carlos, Hyatt Regency Phoenix, Renaissance Phoenix Hotel, Sheraton Phoenix Downtown Hotel and the Westin Phoenix Downtown.
Six hotels may seem a lot for downtown, but John Chan, director of Phoenix's community and economic-development department, said it isn't.
The opening of the Palomar means the city now has less than 3,000 hotel rooms available for guests in downtown -- still short of the estimated 4,000 rooms city officials believe are necessary to draw the nation's biggest conventions to Phoenix.
More rooms will put Phoenix in a position to attract the biggest events and conventions in the country, such as the entertainment and fan activities to be held in downtown for the NFL's 2015 Super Bowl.
And those hotels could help put to full use the Phoenix Convention Center, a 2 million-square-foot facility that was expanded in 2008 through a $600 million voter-backed bond issue.
Chan said the Palomar will expand options for tourists and convention attendees.
"Palomar is a different type of hotel," he said, noting that it's "boutique." In hotel industry-speak, this means it's a high-end luxury hotel brand that may look much different from hotel to hotel -- some Palomars have been installed in older, existing buildings -- but offers similar guest services.
Steve Moore, president and CEO of the Greater Phoenix Convention & Visitors Bureau, which books big events and meetings for the convention center, said the Palomar has been long awaited.
"Over four years," Moore said. "It's pretty incredible."
Hotels have a broad set of stakeholders -- among them rental-car companies, restaurants, shops, the city, Maricopa County and the state -- that reap the sales taxes. Moore said a single hotel room in downtown Phoenix contributes an estimated $6,300 in tax revenue for the Phoenix area every year.
He added that the average room, which spans about 350 square feet, actually generates 10 percent more in tax revenue than a typical home in Phoenix.
Hotel Palomar Phoenix
By the numbers
2 bars.
10 floors.
12 deluxe studio suites.
16 suites.
242 rooms.
15,000 square feet of meeting space.
by Emily Gersema - Jun. 7, 2012 06:54 PM The Republic | azcentral.com
Boutique Hotel Palomar Phoenix opens downtown
Boutique Hotel Palomar Phoenix opens downtown
Cheryl Evans/The Republic A patio at the Hotel Palomar Phoenix downtown stands ready for guests. The hotel's pool bar and its restaurant are expected to draw as many locals as they do guests.
Performances by EPIK Urban Dance and the Phoenix Suns drum line, music by Urban Quartet and a block party were part of the fanfare at Thursday's grand-opening celebration for the Hotel Palomar Phoenix.
Phoenix officials and executives with RED Development and hotel operator Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants thought the festivities fitting for the $90 million hotel, the capstone of the two-block CityScape retail and office development at Central Avenue and Jefferson Street.
Cowboy chic meets "Mad Men" at this 10-floor property, where mirrors are framed by leather belts, burnt-red Japanese lanterns dangle in a daisy-chain over a stairway and some end tables look like suitcases tipped on their sides.
Hotel Palomar Phoenix offers more than 10,000 square feet of meeting space, including a chandeliered ballroom. The pool bar, Luster, and the restaurant, Blue Hound Kitchen & Cocktails, are expected to draw about as many locals as guests.
"New construction is something relatively new for us in the last five years," said Michael Depatie, Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants CEO and president.
Depatie said the company has renovated several existing buildings across the country for its Palomars, but that new construction such as the Palomar at CityScape is easier to complete. "You can just make what you want."
At its peak, the hotel will employ an estimated 250 workers, from check-in clerks to housekeeping staff. It has opened with 150. Depatie said he expects the hotel's sales will ramp up within the second or third year of opening.
The Palomar is on a gradually growing roster of downtown Phoenix hotels, including the Hotel San Carlos, Hyatt Regency Phoenix, Renaissance Phoenix Hotel, Sheraton Phoenix Downtown Hotel and the Westin Phoenix Downtown.
Six hotels may seem a lot for downtown, but John Chan, director of Phoenix's community and economic-development department, said it isn't.
The opening of the Palomar means the city now has less than 3,000 hotel rooms available for guests in downtown -- still short of the estimated 4,000 rooms city officials believe are necessary to draw the nation's biggest conventions to Phoenix.
More rooms will put Phoenix in a position to attract the biggest events and conventions in the country, such as the entertainment and fan activities to be held in downtown for the NFL's 2015 Super Bowl.
And those hotels could help put to full use the Phoenix Convention Center, a 2 million-square-foot facility that was expanded in 2008 through a $600 million voter-backed bond issue.
Chan said the Palomar will expand options for tourists and convention attendees.
"Palomar is a different type of hotel," he said, noting that it's "boutique." In hotel industry-speak, this means it's a high-end luxury hotel brand that may look much different from hotel to hotel -- some Palomars have been installed in older, existing buildings -- but offers similar guest services.
Steve Moore, president and CEO of the Greater Phoenix Convention & Visitors Bureau, which books big events and meetings for the convention center, said the Palomar has been long awaited.
"Over four years," Moore said. "It's pretty incredible."
Hotels have a broad set of stakeholders -- among them rental-car companies, restaurants, shops, the city, Maricopa County and the state -- that reap the sales taxes. Moore said a single hotel room in downtown Phoenix contributes an estimated $6,300 in tax revenue for the Phoenix area every year.
He added that the average room, which spans about 350 square feet, actually generates 10 percent more in tax revenue than a typical home in Phoenix.
Hotel Palomar Phoenix
By the numbers
2 bars.
10 floors.
12 deluxe studio suites.
16 suites.
242 rooms.
15,000 square feet of meeting space.
by Emily Gersema - Jun. 7, 2012 06:54 PM The Republic | azcentral.com
Boutique Hotel Palomar Phoenix opens downtown
Saturday, June 2, 2012
Phoenix's Hotel Palomar prepares for debut
Years of construction at First and Jefferson streets in downtown Phoenix are about to end at the CityScape office-and-retail project as construction crews complete the Hotel Palomar Phoenix.
The $90 million, 242-room boutique hotel in the RED Development project officially opens June 5. It joins the Hotel San Carlos, Hyatt Regency Phoenix, Renaissance Phoenix Hotel, Sheraton Phoenix Downtown Hotel and the Westin Phoenix Downtown in the lineup of downtown hotels.
Jim Hollister, general manager of the new hotel, said other hoteliers in the area have been welcoming to the Palomar, even though it will bring them new competition.
"We are fighting for the same business in summer," Hollister said.
CityScape general manager Jeff Moloznik said the Hotel Palomar will give Phoenix more leverage when courting large national conferences and events, such as the Super Bowl, which will be held at the University of Phoenix Stadium in 2015, with fan events at CityScape.
"But we're also competing together as a group nationally for conventions," Moloznik said.
Phoenix officials have said the city needs more hotels downtown to support the large-scale conventions they have been drawing to the Phoenix Convention Center, a few blocks from CityScape.
An estimated 195,750 people are expected to attend the center's conferences this year -- which amounts to nearly 276,000 room nights in local hotels, according to the Greater Phoenix Convention and Visitors Bureau and convention-center officials.
Those convention attendees are expected to spend more than $283 million during the year on food, drinks, rooms, souvenirs and entertainment.
The Palomar in Phoenix, a Kimpton hotel, would be an attractive option for conventioneers, and it could be a selling point for associations and other national groups that are deciding where to hold their next annual conventions, said Jennifer Franklin, a spokeswoman for the hotel.
Franklin also said Kimpton hotels have a loyal customer following, especially among women, which makes it an attractive brand for cities to acquire.
The Hotel Palomar Phoenix is the second hotel that Kimpton Hotels and Restaurants has built from scratch, Hollister said. The other is the Hotel Palomar in Chicago. The company usually adds hotels through "adaptive reuse" -- renovating existing buildings.
Moloznik said the Hotel Palomar Phoenix boasts energy efficiency and recycled materials that may enable it -- and all of CityScape's two blocks of stores, restaurants and offices -- to qualify for the prestigious LEED certification, the international hallmark of green design and construction.
In addition, it already meets Kimpton's standards for green building under its 7-year-old green building program, EarthCare -- another selling point for the environmentally conscientious customer.
The hotel's 242 rooms are decked in chic neutral tones -- espresso brown; gray beaded wallpaper; beige-colored, croc-textured doors on the wardrobes; and stainless-steel fixtures. The furniture has crisp, straight edges, but pillows and other accessories soften the sharpness. Nightly room rates start at $149.
"It's like that show 'Mad Men,' " Hollister said, referring to the popular AMC television show set in the early 1960s, when interior design was markedly minimalist with stark, contrasting colors.
A one-bedroom unit features a separate sitting room. Each bathroom has a Fuji soak tub.
A 3,200-square-foot ballroom will play host to conferences, banquets and celebrations. Boardrooms also can be set up in the meeting spaces. Altogether, the hotel offers more than 15,000 square feet of meeting space.
Construction crews are putting the finishing touches on two bars. One, on the second floor of the hotel, is the Blue Hound Kitchen & Cocktails bar, where Palomar guests will be invited to a "Wines of the World" hour at 5 p.m. daily. Room service also is available 24 hours a day.
The outdoor pool is on the third floor, where guests can watch the crowds walking to and leaving concerts, Phoenix Suns, Mercury and Arizona Diamondbacks games. Another bar, Lustre, next to the pool will be open to the public.
Guests hoping to squeeze in a workout will get complimentary passes to Gold's Gym Elite at CityScape.
Hollister said the hotel has been hosting job fairs at the CityScape office tower to hire 250 workers, from cleaning crews to managers.
by Emily Gersema - Jun. 1, 2012 04:02 PM The Republic | azcentral.com
Phoenix's Hotel Palomar prepares for debut
The $90 million, 242-room boutique hotel in the RED Development project officially opens June 5. It joins the Hotel San Carlos, Hyatt Regency Phoenix, Renaissance Phoenix Hotel, Sheraton Phoenix Downtown Hotel and the Westin Phoenix Downtown in the lineup of downtown hotels.
Jim Hollister, general manager of the new hotel, said other hoteliers in the area have been welcoming to the Palomar, even though it will bring them new competition.
"We are fighting for the same business in summer," Hollister said.
CityScape general manager Jeff Moloznik said the Hotel Palomar will give Phoenix more leverage when courting large national conferences and events, such as the Super Bowl, which will be held at the University of Phoenix Stadium in 2015, with fan events at CityScape.
"But we're also competing together as a group nationally for conventions," Moloznik said.
Phoenix officials have said the city needs more hotels downtown to support the large-scale conventions they have been drawing to the Phoenix Convention Center, a few blocks from CityScape.
An estimated 195,750 people are expected to attend the center's conferences this year -- which amounts to nearly 276,000 room nights in local hotels, according to the Greater Phoenix Convention and Visitors Bureau and convention-center officials.
Those convention attendees are expected to spend more than $283 million during the year on food, drinks, rooms, souvenirs and entertainment.
The Palomar in Phoenix, a Kimpton hotel, would be an attractive option for conventioneers, and it could be a selling point for associations and other national groups that are deciding where to hold their next annual conventions, said Jennifer Franklin, a spokeswoman for the hotel.
Franklin also said Kimpton hotels have a loyal customer following, especially among women, which makes it an attractive brand for cities to acquire.
The Hotel Palomar Phoenix is the second hotel that Kimpton Hotels and Restaurants has built from scratch, Hollister said. The other is the Hotel Palomar in Chicago. The company usually adds hotels through "adaptive reuse" -- renovating existing buildings.
Moloznik said the Hotel Palomar Phoenix boasts energy efficiency and recycled materials that may enable it -- and all of CityScape's two blocks of stores, restaurants and offices -- to qualify for the prestigious LEED certification, the international hallmark of green design and construction.
In addition, it already meets Kimpton's standards for green building under its 7-year-old green building program, EarthCare -- another selling point for the environmentally conscientious customer.
The hotel's 242 rooms are decked in chic neutral tones -- espresso brown; gray beaded wallpaper; beige-colored, croc-textured doors on the wardrobes; and stainless-steel fixtures. The furniture has crisp, straight edges, but pillows and other accessories soften the sharpness. Nightly room rates start at $149.
"It's like that show 'Mad Men,' " Hollister said, referring to the popular AMC television show set in the early 1960s, when interior design was markedly minimalist with stark, contrasting colors.
A one-bedroom unit features a separate sitting room. Each bathroom has a Fuji soak tub.
A 3,200-square-foot ballroom will play host to conferences, banquets and celebrations. Boardrooms also can be set up in the meeting spaces. Altogether, the hotel offers more than 15,000 square feet of meeting space.
Construction crews are putting the finishing touches on two bars. One, on the second floor of the hotel, is the Blue Hound Kitchen & Cocktails bar, where Palomar guests will be invited to a "Wines of the World" hour at 5 p.m. daily. Room service also is available 24 hours a day.
The outdoor pool is on the third floor, where guests can watch the crowds walking to and leaving concerts, Phoenix Suns, Mercury and Arizona Diamondbacks games. Another bar, Lustre, next to the pool will be open to the public.
Guests hoping to squeeze in a workout will get complimentary passes to Gold's Gym Elite at CityScape.
Hollister said the hotel has been hosting job fairs at the CityScape office tower to hire 250 workers, from cleaning crews to managers.
by Emily Gersema - Jun. 1, 2012 04:02 PM The Republic | azcentral.com
Phoenix's Hotel Palomar prepares for debut
Phoenix's Hotel Palomar prepares for debut
Years of construction at First and Jefferson streets in downtown Phoenix are about to end at the CityScape office-and-retail project as construction crews complete the Hotel Palomar Phoenix.
The $90 million, 242-room boutique hotel in the RED Development project officially opens June 5. It joins the Hotel San Carlos, Hyatt Regency Phoenix, Renaissance Phoenix Hotel, Sheraton Phoenix Downtown Hotel and the Westin Phoenix Downtown in the lineup of downtown hotels.
Jim Hollister, general manager of the new hotel, said other hoteliers in the area have been welcoming to the Palomar, even though it will bring them new competition.
"We are fighting for the same business in summer," Hollister said.
CityScape general manager Jeff Moloznik said the Hotel Palomar will give Phoenix more leverage when courting large national conferences and events, such as the Super Bowl, which will be held at the University of Phoenix Stadium in 2015, with fan events at CityScape.
"But we're also competing together as a group nationally for conventions," Moloznik said.
Phoenix officials have said the city needs more hotels downtown to support the large-scale conventions they have been drawing to the Phoenix Convention Center, a few blocks from CityScape.
An estimated 195,750 people are expected to attend the center's conferences this year -- which amounts to nearly 276,000 room nights in local hotels, according to the Greater Phoenix Convention and Visitors Bureau and convention-center officials.
Those convention attendees are expected to spend more than $283 million during the year on food, drinks, rooms, souvenirs and entertainment.
The Palomar in Phoenix, a Kimpton hotel, would be an attractive option for conventioneers, and it could be a selling point for associations and other national groups that are deciding where to hold their next annual conventions, said Jennifer Franklin, a spokeswoman for the hotel.
Franklin also said Kimpton hotels have a loyal customer following, especially among women, which makes it an attractive brand for cities to acquire.
The Hotel Palomar Phoenix is the second hotel that Kimpton Hotels and Restaurants has built from scratch, Hollister said. The other is the Hotel Palomar in Chicago. The company usually adds hotels through "adaptive reuse" -- renovating existing buildings.
Moloznik said the Hotel Palomar Phoenix boasts energy efficiency and recycled materials that may enable it -- and all of CityScape's two blocks of stores, restaurants and offices -- to qualify for the prestigious LEED certification, the international hallmark of green design and construction.
In addition, it already meets Kimpton's standards for green building under its 7-year-old green building program, EarthCare -- another selling point for the environmentally conscientious customer.
The hotel's 242 rooms are decked in chic neutral tones -- espresso brown; gray beaded wallpaper; beige-colored, croc-textured doors on the wardrobes; and stainless-steel fixtures. The furniture has crisp, straight edges, but pillows and other accessories soften the sharpness. Nightly room rates start at $149.
"It's like that show 'Mad Men,' " Hollister said, referring to the popular AMC television show set in the early 1960s, when interior design was markedly minimalist with stark, contrasting colors.
A one-bedroom unit features a separate sitting room. Each bathroom has a Fuji soak tub.
A 3,200-square-foot ballroom will play host to conferences, banquets and celebrations. Boardrooms also can be set up in the meeting spaces. Altogether, the hotel offers more than 15,000 square feet of meeting space.
Construction crews are putting the finishing touches on two bars. One, on the second floor of the hotel, is the Blue Hound Kitchen & Cocktails bar, where Palomar guests will be invited to a "Wines of the World" hour at 5 p.m. daily. Room service also is available 24 hours a day.
The outdoor pool is on the third floor, where guests can watch the crowds walking to and leaving concerts, Phoenix Suns, Mercury and Arizona Diamondbacks games. Another bar, Lustre, next to the pool will be open to the public.
Guests hoping to squeeze in a workout will get complimentary passes to Gold's Gym Elite at CityScape.
Hollister said the hotel has been hosting job fairs at the CityScape office tower to hire 250 workers, from cleaning crews to managers.
by Emily Gersema - Jun. 1, 2012 04:02 PM The Republic | azcentral.com
Phoenix's Hotel Palomar prepares for debut
The $90 million, 242-room boutique hotel in the RED Development project officially opens June 5. It joins the Hotel San Carlos, Hyatt Regency Phoenix, Renaissance Phoenix Hotel, Sheraton Phoenix Downtown Hotel and the Westin Phoenix Downtown in the lineup of downtown hotels.
Jim Hollister, general manager of the new hotel, said other hoteliers in the area have been welcoming to the Palomar, even though it will bring them new competition.
"We are fighting for the same business in summer," Hollister said.
CityScape general manager Jeff Moloznik said the Hotel Palomar will give Phoenix more leverage when courting large national conferences and events, such as the Super Bowl, which will be held at the University of Phoenix Stadium in 2015, with fan events at CityScape.
"But we're also competing together as a group nationally for conventions," Moloznik said.
Phoenix officials have said the city needs more hotels downtown to support the large-scale conventions they have been drawing to the Phoenix Convention Center, a few blocks from CityScape.
An estimated 195,750 people are expected to attend the center's conferences this year -- which amounts to nearly 276,000 room nights in local hotels, according to the Greater Phoenix Convention and Visitors Bureau and convention-center officials.
Those convention attendees are expected to spend more than $283 million during the year on food, drinks, rooms, souvenirs and entertainment.
The Palomar in Phoenix, a Kimpton hotel, would be an attractive option for conventioneers, and it could be a selling point for associations and other national groups that are deciding where to hold their next annual conventions, said Jennifer Franklin, a spokeswoman for the hotel.
Franklin also said Kimpton hotels have a loyal customer following, especially among women, which makes it an attractive brand for cities to acquire.
The Hotel Palomar Phoenix is the second hotel that Kimpton Hotels and Restaurants has built from scratch, Hollister said. The other is the Hotel Palomar in Chicago. The company usually adds hotels through "adaptive reuse" -- renovating existing buildings.
Moloznik said the Hotel Palomar Phoenix boasts energy efficiency and recycled materials that may enable it -- and all of CityScape's two blocks of stores, restaurants and offices -- to qualify for the prestigious LEED certification, the international hallmark of green design and construction.
In addition, it already meets Kimpton's standards for green building under its 7-year-old green building program, EarthCare -- another selling point for the environmentally conscientious customer.
The hotel's 242 rooms are decked in chic neutral tones -- espresso brown; gray beaded wallpaper; beige-colored, croc-textured doors on the wardrobes; and stainless-steel fixtures. The furniture has crisp, straight edges, but pillows and other accessories soften the sharpness. Nightly room rates start at $149.
"It's like that show 'Mad Men,' " Hollister said, referring to the popular AMC television show set in the early 1960s, when interior design was markedly minimalist with stark, contrasting colors.
A one-bedroom unit features a separate sitting room. Each bathroom has a Fuji soak tub.
A 3,200-square-foot ballroom will play host to conferences, banquets and celebrations. Boardrooms also can be set up in the meeting spaces. Altogether, the hotel offers more than 15,000 square feet of meeting space.
Construction crews are putting the finishing touches on two bars. One, on the second floor of the hotel, is the Blue Hound Kitchen & Cocktails bar, where Palomar guests will be invited to a "Wines of the World" hour at 5 p.m. daily. Room service also is available 24 hours a day.
The outdoor pool is on the third floor, where guests can watch the crowds walking to and leaving concerts, Phoenix Suns, Mercury and Arizona Diamondbacks games. Another bar, Lustre, next to the pool will be open to the public.
Guests hoping to squeeze in a workout will get complimentary passes to Gold's Gym Elite at CityScape.
Hollister said the hotel has been hosting job fairs at the CityScape office tower to hire 250 workers, from cleaning crews to managers.
by Emily Gersema - Jun. 1, 2012 04:02 PM The Republic | azcentral.com
Phoenix's Hotel Palomar prepares for debut
Phoenix's Hotel Palomar prepares for debut
Years of construction at First and Jefferson streets in downtown Phoenix are about to end at the CityScape office-and-retail project as construction crews complete the Hotel Palomar Phoenix.
The $90 million, 242-room boutique hotel in the RED Development project officially opens June 5. It joins the Hotel San Carlos, Hyatt Regency Phoenix, Renaissance Phoenix Hotel, Sheraton Phoenix Downtown Hotel and the Westin Phoenix Downtown in the lineup of downtown hotels.
Jim Hollister, general manager of the new hotel, said other hoteliers in the area have been welcoming to the Palomar, even though it will bring them new competition.
"We are fighting for the same business in summer," Hollister said.
CityScape general manager Jeff Moloznik said the Hotel Palomar will give Phoenix more leverage when courting large national conferences and events, such as the Super Bowl, which will be held at the University of Phoenix Stadium in 2015, with fan events at CityScape.
"But we're also competing together as a group nationally for conventions," Moloznik said.
Phoenix officials have said the city needs more hotels downtown to support the large-scale conventions they have been drawing to the Phoenix Convention Center, a few blocks from CityScape.
An estimated 195,750 people are expected to attend the center's conferences this year -- which amounts to nearly 276,000 room nights in local hotels, according to the Greater Phoenix Convention and Visitors Bureau and convention-center officials.
Those convention attendees are expected to spend more than $283 million during the year on food, drinks, rooms, souvenirs and entertainment.
The Palomar in Phoenix, a Kimpton hotel, would be an attractive option for conventioneers, and it could be a selling point for associations and other national groups that are deciding where to hold their next annual conventions, said Jennifer Franklin, a spokeswoman for the hotel.
Franklin also said Kimpton hotels have a loyal customer following, especially among women, which makes it an attractive brand for cities to acquire.
The Hotel Palomar Phoenix is the second hotel that Kimpton Hotels and Restaurants has built from scratch, Hollister said. The other is the Hotel Palomar in Chicago. The company usually adds hotels through "adaptive reuse" -- renovating existing buildings.
Moloznik said the Hotel Palomar Phoenix boasts energy efficiency and recycled materials that may enable it -- and all of CityScape's two blocks of stores, restaurants and offices -- to qualify for the prestigious LEED certification, the international hallmark of green design and construction.
In addition, it already meets Kimpton's standards for green building under its 7-year-old green building program, EarthCare -- another selling point for the environmentally conscientious customer.
The hotel's 242 rooms are decked in chic neutral tones -- espresso brown; gray beaded wallpaper; beige-colored, croc-textured doors on the wardrobes; and stainless-steel fixtures. The furniture has crisp, straight edges, but pillows and other accessories soften the sharpness. Nightly room rates start at $149.
"It's like that show 'Mad Men,' " Hollister said, referring to the popular AMC television show set in the early 1960s, when interior design was markedly minimalist with stark, contrasting colors.
A one-bedroom unit features a separate sitting room. Each bathroom has a Fuji soak tub.
A 3,200-square-foot ballroom will play host to conferences, banquets and celebrations. Boardrooms also can be set up in the meeting spaces. Altogether, the hotel offers more than 15,000 square feet of meeting space.
Construction crews are putting the finishing touches on two bars. One, on the second floor of the hotel, is the Blue Hound Kitchen & Cocktails bar, where Palomar guests will be invited to a "Wines of the World" hour at 5 p.m. daily. Room service also is available 24 hours a day.
The outdoor pool is on the third floor, where guests can watch the crowds walking to and leaving concerts, Phoenix Suns, Mercury and Arizona Diamondbacks games. Another bar, Lustre, next to the pool will be open to the public.
Guests hoping to squeeze in a workout will get complimentary passes to Gold's Gym Elite at CityScape.
Hollister said the hotel has been hosting job fairs at the CityScape office tower to hire 250 workers, from cleaning crews to managers.
by Emily Gersema - Jun. 1, 2012 04:02 PM The Republic | azcentral.com
Phoenix's Hotel Palomar prepares for debut
The $90 million, 242-room boutique hotel in the RED Development project officially opens June 5. It joins the Hotel San Carlos, Hyatt Regency Phoenix, Renaissance Phoenix Hotel, Sheraton Phoenix Downtown Hotel and the Westin Phoenix Downtown in the lineup of downtown hotels.
Jim Hollister, general manager of the new hotel, said other hoteliers in the area have been welcoming to the Palomar, even though it will bring them new competition.
"We are fighting for the same business in summer," Hollister said.
CityScape general manager Jeff Moloznik said the Hotel Palomar will give Phoenix more leverage when courting large national conferences and events, such as the Super Bowl, which will be held at the University of Phoenix Stadium in 2015, with fan events at CityScape.
"But we're also competing together as a group nationally for conventions," Moloznik said.
Phoenix officials have said the city needs more hotels downtown to support the large-scale conventions they have been drawing to the Phoenix Convention Center, a few blocks from CityScape.
An estimated 195,750 people are expected to attend the center's conferences this year -- which amounts to nearly 276,000 room nights in local hotels, according to the Greater Phoenix Convention and Visitors Bureau and convention-center officials.
Those convention attendees are expected to spend more than $283 million during the year on food, drinks, rooms, souvenirs and entertainment.
The Palomar in Phoenix, a Kimpton hotel, would be an attractive option for conventioneers, and it could be a selling point for associations and other national groups that are deciding where to hold their next annual conventions, said Jennifer Franklin, a spokeswoman for the hotel.
Franklin also said Kimpton hotels have a loyal customer following, especially among women, which makes it an attractive brand for cities to acquire.
The Hotel Palomar Phoenix is the second hotel that Kimpton Hotels and Restaurants has built from scratch, Hollister said. The other is the Hotel Palomar in Chicago. The company usually adds hotels through "adaptive reuse" -- renovating existing buildings.
Moloznik said the Hotel Palomar Phoenix boasts energy efficiency and recycled materials that may enable it -- and all of CityScape's two blocks of stores, restaurants and offices -- to qualify for the prestigious LEED certification, the international hallmark of green design and construction.
In addition, it already meets Kimpton's standards for green building under its 7-year-old green building program, EarthCare -- another selling point for the environmentally conscientious customer.
The hotel's 242 rooms are decked in chic neutral tones -- espresso brown; gray beaded wallpaper; beige-colored, croc-textured doors on the wardrobes; and stainless-steel fixtures. The furniture has crisp, straight edges, but pillows and other accessories soften the sharpness. Nightly room rates start at $149.
"It's like that show 'Mad Men,' " Hollister said, referring to the popular AMC television show set in the early 1960s, when interior design was markedly minimalist with stark, contrasting colors.
A one-bedroom unit features a separate sitting room. Each bathroom has a Fuji soak tub.
A 3,200-square-foot ballroom will play host to conferences, banquets and celebrations. Boardrooms also can be set up in the meeting spaces. Altogether, the hotel offers more than 15,000 square feet of meeting space.
Construction crews are putting the finishing touches on two bars. One, on the second floor of the hotel, is the Blue Hound Kitchen & Cocktails bar, where Palomar guests will be invited to a "Wines of the World" hour at 5 p.m. daily. Room service also is available 24 hours a day.
The outdoor pool is on the third floor, where guests can watch the crowds walking to and leaving concerts, Phoenix Suns, Mercury and Arizona Diamondbacks games. Another bar, Lustre, next to the pool will be open to the public.
Guests hoping to squeeze in a workout will get complimentary passes to Gold's Gym Elite at CityScape.
Hollister said the hotel has been hosting job fairs at the CityScape office tower to hire 250 workers, from cleaning crews to managers.
by Emily Gersema - Jun. 1, 2012 04:02 PM The Republic | azcentral.com
Phoenix's Hotel Palomar prepares for debut
Phoenix's Hotel Palomar prepares for debut
Years of construction at First and Jefferson streets in downtown Phoenix are about to end at the CityScape office-and-retail project as construction crews complete the Hotel Palomar Phoenix.
The $90 million, 242-room boutique hotel in the RED Development project officially opens June 5. It joins the Hotel San Carlos, Hyatt Regency Phoenix, Renaissance Phoenix Hotel, Sheraton Phoenix Downtown Hotel and the Westin Phoenix Downtown in the lineup of downtown hotels.
Jim Hollister, general manager of the new hotel, said other hoteliers in the area have been welcoming to the Palomar, even though it will bring them new competition.
"We are fighting for the same business in summer," Hollister said.
CityScape general manager Jeff Moloznik said the Hotel Palomar will give Phoenix more leverage when courting large national conferences and events, such as the Super Bowl, which will be held at the University of Phoenix Stadium in 2015, with fan events at CityScape.
"But we're also competing together as a group nationally for conventions," Moloznik said.
Phoenix officials have said the city needs more hotels downtown to support the large-scale conventions they have been drawing to the Phoenix Convention Center, a few blocks from CityScape.
An estimated 195,750 people are expected to attend the center's conferences this year -- which amounts to nearly 276,000 room nights in local hotels, according to the Greater Phoenix Convention and Visitors Bureau and convention-center officials.
Those convention attendees are expected to spend more than $283 million during the year on food, drinks, rooms, souvenirs and entertainment.
The Palomar in Phoenix, a Kimpton hotel, would be an attractive option for conventioneers, and it could be a selling point for associations and other national groups that are deciding where to hold their next annual conventions, said Jennifer Franklin, a spokeswoman for the hotel.
Franklin also said Kimpton hotels have a loyal customer following, especially among women, which makes it an attractive brand for cities to acquire.
The Hotel Palomar Phoenix is the second hotel that Kimpton Hotels and Restaurants has built from scratch, Hollister said. The other is the Hotel Palomar in Chicago. The company usually adds hotels through "adaptive reuse" -- renovating existing buildings.
Moloznik said the Hotel Palomar Phoenix boasts energy efficiency and recycled materials that may enable it -- and all of CityScape's two blocks of stores, restaurants and offices -- to qualify for the prestigious LEED certification, the international hallmark of green design and construction.
In addition, it already meets Kimpton's standards for green building under its 7-year-old green building program, EarthCare -- another selling point for the environmentally conscientious customer.
The hotel's 242 rooms are decked in chic neutral tones -- espresso brown; gray beaded wallpaper; beige-colored, croc-textured doors on the wardrobes; and stainless-steel fixtures. The furniture has crisp, straight edges, but pillows and other accessories soften the sharpness. Nightly room rates start at $149.
"It's like that show 'Mad Men,' " Hollister said, referring to the popular AMC television show set in the early 1960s, when interior design was markedly minimalist with stark, contrasting colors.
A one-bedroom unit features a separate sitting room. Each bathroom has a Fuji soak tub.
A 3,200-square-foot ballroom will play host to conferences, banquets and celebrations. Boardrooms also can be set up in the meeting spaces. Altogether, the hotel offers more than 15,000 square feet of meeting space.
Construction crews are putting the finishing touches on two bars. One, on the second floor of the hotel, is the Blue Hound Kitchen & Cocktails bar, where Palomar guests will be invited to a "Wines of the World" hour at 5 p.m. daily. Room service also is available 24 hours a day.
The outdoor pool is on the third floor, where guests can watch the crowds walking to and leaving concerts, Phoenix Suns, Mercury and Arizona Diamondbacks games. Another bar, Lustre, next to the pool will be open to the public.
Guests hoping to squeeze in a workout will get complimentary passes to Gold's Gym Elite at CityScape.
Hollister said the hotel has been hosting job fairs at the CityScape office tower to hire 250 workers, from cleaning crews to managers.
by Emily Gersema - Jun. 1, 2012 04:02 PM The Republic | azcentral.com
Phoenix's Hotel Palomar prepares for debut
The $90 million, 242-room boutique hotel in the RED Development project officially opens June 5. It joins the Hotel San Carlos, Hyatt Regency Phoenix, Renaissance Phoenix Hotel, Sheraton Phoenix Downtown Hotel and the Westin Phoenix Downtown in the lineup of downtown hotels.
Jim Hollister, general manager of the new hotel, said other hoteliers in the area have been welcoming to the Palomar, even though it will bring them new competition.
"We are fighting for the same business in summer," Hollister said.
CityScape general manager Jeff Moloznik said the Hotel Palomar will give Phoenix more leverage when courting large national conferences and events, such as the Super Bowl, which will be held at the University of Phoenix Stadium in 2015, with fan events at CityScape.
"But we're also competing together as a group nationally for conventions," Moloznik said.
Phoenix officials have said the city needs more hotels downtown to support the large-scale conventions they have been drawing to the Phoenix Convention Center, a few blocks from CityScape.
An estimated 195,750 people are expected to attend the center's conferences this year -- which amounts to nearly 276,000 room nights in local hotels, according to the Greater Phoenix Convention and Visitors Bureau and convention-center officials.
Those convention attendees are expected to spend more than $283 million during the year on food, drinks, rooms, souvenirs and entertainment.
The Palomar in Phoenix, a Kimpton hotel, would be an attractive option for conventioneers, and it could be a selling point for associations and other national groups that are deciding where to hold their next annual conventions, said Jennifer Franklin, a spokeswoman for the hotel.
Franklin also said Kimpton hotels have a loyal customer following, especially among women, which makes it an attractive brand for cities to acquire.
The Hotel Palomar Phoenix is the second hotel that Kimpton Hotels and Restaurants has built from scratch, Hollister said. The other is the Hotel Palomar in Chicago. The company usually adds hotels through "adaptive reuse" -- renovating existing buildings.
Moloznik said the Hotel Palomar Phoenix boasts energy efficiency and recycled materials that may enable it -- and all of CityScape's two blocks of stores, restaurants and offices -- to qualify for the prestigious LEED certification, the international hallmark of green design and construction.
In addition, it already meets Kimpton's standards for green building under its 7-year-old green building program, EarthCare -- another selling point for the environmentally conscientious customer.
The hotel's 242 rooms are decked in chic neutral tones -- espresso brown; gray beaded wallpaper; beige-colored, croc-textured doors on the wardrobes; and stainless-steel fixtures. The furniture has crisp, straight edges, but pillows and other accessories soften the sharpness. Nightly room rates start at $149.
"It's like that show 'Mad Men,' " Hollister said, referring to the popular AMC television show set in the early 1960s, when interior design was markedly minimalist with stark, contrasting colors.
A one-bedroom unit features a separate sitting room. Each bathroom has a Fuji soak tub.
A 3,200-square-foot ballroom will play host to conferences, banquets and celebrations. Boardrooms also can be set up in the meeting spaces. Altogether, the hotel offers more than 15,000 square feet of meeting space.
Construction crews are putting the finishing touches on two bars. One, on the second floor of the hotel, is the Blue Hound Kitchen & Cocktails bar, where Palomar guests will be invited to a "Wines of the World" hour at 5 p.m. daily. Room service also is available 24 hours a day.
The outdoor pool is on the third floor, where guests can watch the crowds walking to and leaving concerts, Phoenix Suns, Mercury and Arizona Diamondbacks games. Another bar, Lustre, next to the pool will be open to the public.
Guests hoping to squeeze in a workout will get complimentary passes to Gold's Gym Elite at CityScape.
Hollister said the hotel has been hosting job fairs at the CityScape office tower to hire 250 workers, from cleaning crews to managers.
by Emily Gersema - Jun. 1, 2012 04:02 PM The Republic | azcentral.com
Phoenix's Hotel Palomar prepares for debut
Phoenix's Hotel Palomar prepares for debut
Years of construction at First and Jefferson streets in downtown Phoenix are about to end at the CityScape office-and-retail project as construction crews complete the Hotel Palomar Phoenix.
The $90 million, 242-room boutique hotel in the RED Development project officially opens June 5. It joins the Hotel San Carlos, Hyatt Regency Phoenix, Renaissance Phoenix Hotel, Sheraton Phoenix Downtown Hotel and the Westin Phoenix Downtown in the lineup of downtown hotels.
Jim Hollister, general manager of the new hotel, said other hoteliers in the area have been welcoming to the Palomar, even though it will bring them new competition.
"We are fighting for the same business in summer," Hollister said.
CityScape general manager Jeff Moloznik said the Hotel Palomar will give Phoenix more leverage when courting large national conferences and events, such as the Super Bowl, which will be held at the University of Phoenix Stadium in 2015, with fan events at CityScape.
"But we're also competing together as a group nationally for conventions," Moloznik said.
Phoenix officials have said the city needs more hotels downtown to support the large-scale conventions they have been drawing to the Phoenix Convention Center, a few blocks from CityScape.
An estimated 195,750 people are expected to attend the center's conferences this year -- which amounts to nearly 276,000 room nights in local hotels, according to the Greater Phoenix Convention and Visitors Bureau and convention-center officials.
Those convention attendees are expected to spend more than $283 million during the year on food, drinks, rooms, souvenirs and entertainment.
The Palomar in Phoenix, a Kimpton hotel, would be an attractive option for conventioneers, and it could be a selling point for associations and other national groups that are deciding where to hold their next annual conventions, said Jennifer Franklin, a spokeswoman for the hotel.
Franklin also said Kimpton hotels have a loyal customer following, especially among women, which makes it an attractive brand for cities to acquire.
The Hotel Palomar Phoenix is the second hotel that Kimpton Hotels and Restaurants has built from scratch, Hollister said. The other is the Hotel Palomar in Chicago. The company usually adds hotels through "adaptive reuse" -- renovating existing buildings.
Moloznik said the Hotel Palomar Phoenix boasts energy efficiency and recycled materials that may enable it -- and all of CityScape's two blocks of stores, restaurants and offices -- to qualify for the prestigious LEED certification, the international hallmark of green design and construction.
In addition, it already meets Kimpton's standards for green building under its 7-year-old green building program, EarthCare -- another selling point for the environmentally conscientious customer.
The hotel's 242 rooms are decked in chic neutral tones -- espresso brown; gray beaded wallpaper; beige-colored, croc-textured doors on the wardrobes; and stainless-steel fixtures. The furniture has crisp, straight edges, but pillows and other accessories soften the sharpness. Nightly room rates start at $149.
"It's like that show 'Mad Men,' " Hollister said, referring to the popular AMC television show set in the early 1960s, when interior design was markedly minimalist with stark, contrasting colors.
A one-bedroom unit features a separate sitting room. Each bathroom has a Fuji soak tub.
A 3,200-square-foot ballroom will play host to conferences, banquets and celebrations. Boardrooms also can be set up in the meeting spaces. Altogether, the hotel offers more than 15,000 square feet of meeting space.
Construction crews are putting the finishing touches on two bars. One, on the second floor of the hotel, is the Blue Hound Kitchen & Cocktails bar, where Palomar guests will be invited to a "Wines of the World" hour at 5 p.m. daily. Room service also is available 24 hours a day.
The outdoor pool is on the third floor, where guests can watch the crowds walking to and leaving concerts, Phoenix Suns, Mercury and Arizona Diamondbacks games. Another bar, Lustre, next to the pool will be open to the public.
Guests hoping to squeeze in a workout will get complimentary passes to Gold's Gym Elite at CityScape.
Hollister said the hotel has been hosting job fairs at the CityScape office tower to hire 250 workers, from cleaning crews to managers.
by Emily Gersema - Jun. 1, 2012 04:02 PM The Republic | azcentral.com
Phoenix's Hotel Palomar prepares for debut
The $90 million, 242-room boutique hotel in the RED Development project officially opens June 5. It joins the Hotel San Carlos, Hyatt Regency Phoenix, Renaissance Phoenix Hotel, Sheraton Phoenix Downtown Hotel and the Westin Phoenix Downtown in the lineup of downtown hotels.
Jim Hollister, general manager of the new hotel, said other hoteliers in the area have been welcoming to the Palomar, even though it will bring them new competition.
"We are fighting for the same business in summer," Hollister said.
CityScape general manager Jeff Moloznik said the Hotel Palomar will give Phoenix more leverage when courting large national conferences and events, such as the Super Bowl, which will be held at the University of Phoenix Stadium in 2015, with fan events at CityScape.
"But we're also competing together as a group nationally for conventions," Moloznik said.
Phoenix officials have said the city needs more hotels downtown to support the large-scale conventions they have been drawing to the Phoenix Convention Center, a few blocks from CityScape.
An estimated 195,750 people are expected to attend the center's conferences this year -- which amounts to nearly 276,000 room nights in local hotels, according to the Greater Phoenix Convention and Visitors Bureau and convention-center officials.
Those convention attendees are expected to spend more than $283 million during the year on food, drinks, rooms, souvenirs and entertainment.
The Palomar in Phoenix, a Kimpton hotel, would be an attractive option for conventioneers, and it could be a selling point for associations and other national groups that are deciding where to hold their next annual conventions, said Jennifer Franklin, a spokeswoman for the hotel.
Franklin also said Kimpton hotels have a loyal customer following, especially among women, which makes it an attractive brand for cities to acquire.
The Hotel Palomar Phoenix is the second hotel that Kimpton Hotels and Restaurants has built from scratch, Hollister said. The other is the Hotel Palomar in Chicago. The company usually adds hotels through "adaptive reuse" -- renovating existing buildings.
Moloznik said the Hotel Palomar Phoenix boasts energy efficiency and recycled materials that may enable it -- and all of CityScape's two blocks of stores, restaurants and offices -- to qualify for the prestigious LEED certification, the international hallmark of green design and construction.
In addition, it already meets Kimpton's standards for green building under its 7-year-old green building program, EarthCare -- another selling point for the environmentally conscientious customer.
The hotel's 242 rooms are decked in chic neutral tones -- espresso brown; gray beaded wallpaper; beige-colored, croc-textured doors on the wardrobes; and stainless-steel fixtures. The furniture has crisp, straight edges, but pillows and other accessories soften the sharpness. Nightly room rates start at $149.
"It's like that show 'Mad Men,' " Hollister said, referring to the popular AMC television show set in the early 1960s, when interior design was markedly minimalist with stark, contrasting colors.
A one-bedroom unit features a separate sitting room. Each bathroom has a Fuji soak tub.
A 3,200-square-foot ballroom will play host to conferences, banquets and celebrations. Boardrooms also can be set up in the meeting spaces. Altogether, the hotel offers more than 15,000 square feet of meeting space.
Construction crews are putting the finishing touches on two bars. One, on the second floor of the hotel, is the Blue Hound Kitchen & Cocktails bar, where Palomar guests will be invited to a "Wines of the World" hour at 5 p.m. daily. Room service also is available 24 hours a day.
The outdoor pool is on the third floor, where guests can watch the crowds walking to and leaving concerts, Phoenix Suns, Mercury and Arizona Diamondbacks games. Another bar, Lustre, next to the pool will be open to the public.
Guests hoping to squeeze in a workout will get complimentary passes to Gold's Gym Elite at CityScape.
Hollister said the hotel has been hosting job fairs at the CityScape office tower to hire 250 workers, from cleaning crews to managers.
by Emily Gersema - Jun. 1, 2012 04:02 PM The Republic | azcentral.com
Phoenix's Hotel Palomar prepares for debut
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Westin quickly opens in Phoenix office space left empty in downturn
In sprawling Phoenix, the idea of a high-end hotel being crafted into the shell of a vacant new office building is notable. Even more intriguing is when it's done by an ownership group at lightning speed at the tail end of a devastating recession.
The development of the Westin Phoenix Downtown came as a welcome surprise, several years after construction plans for One Central Park East took shape.
The hotel, which opened Thursday, brings another option for visitors and a boost for downtown.
It wasn't meant to end like this. One Central Park East was designed and built to offer Class A office space. Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. occupies the top floors and has its name on the building. But seismic shifts in the economy brought office-vacancy rates to a peak. The building's ownership group, the National Electrical Benefit Plan, had to switch gears.
The idea of a hotel was first floated in June 2009, six months before construction on the 26-story skyscraper was completed. A study conducted by PKF Consulting validated the ownership group's idea: A hotel would be lucrative, especially if it catered to an underserved niche market - independent business travelers.
The study proposed a number of brands for the hotel, including Marriott, Kimpton and Westin. The owners selected Westin, and a deal was struck in spring 2010.
"In 2009, at the depths of the recession, we were coming to them (the Westin) with a shell building that was already in place and the financing to build out the hotel," said Ryan Whitaker, director of equity investments for National Real Estate Advisors, which manages investments for the National Electrical Benefit Fund.
"We were, so to speak, the prettiest girl at the dance."
In August, Perini Building Co., the general contractor hired to build out the hotel, began to transform the space. On the building's first floor are lobbies for each of the building's tenants, followed by nine floors of parking. The Westin sits on floors 11 through 18.
A hotel was born in seven months, with a budget of about $40 million.
"This has been a very short project," said Debra Barton, the hotel's general manager, who started on the job in July. "Typically, this type of project takes about 24 months, but we did this in about 12."
Suppliers and subcontractors pitched in, and the Westin management team grew. Soon, opening day loomed. In the two weeks before the first guest signed in, the hotel's new employees worked to put the finishing touches on the property, train their jobs and learn what it meant to provide Westin service. Each of them already has made a mark on the culture of the hotel.
Seven-month crunch
On Feb. 24, the Westin launched its employee-training program.
The lobby and hotel floors were still a hive of construction activity, with nearly 200 subcontractors on the premises.
The steady buzz of construction began in August and continued until Wednesday, the day before the hotel's grand opening.
Last summer, the eight floors that would become the Westin's meeting space and guest rooms were void of walls, flooring and plumbing infrastructure that could accommodate bathrooms for individual guest rooms.
Each floor looked like a vacant warehouse, spanning from glass wall to glass wall.
Even the air-conditioning ducts had to be revised to accommodate individual guest rooms, said Ken Schacherbauer, vice president of operations for Perini.
"It's been a really complex project because of the time frame and because we had to work in an existing and operating building without disturbing its tenant, Freeport-McMoRan," Schacherbauer said.
Altering the building to accommodate a hotel meant putting up walls and adding all the basic amenities, such as bathtubs, showers and sink fixtures.
Extensive construction also had to be completed on the first floor. The western side of the building was extended outward, making room for the hotel's entryway on Central Avenue, signature restaurant Province's indoor and outdoor seating, and a second-story pool. Part of what was Freeport-McMoRan's lobby was partitioned off to become the new Westin's lobby.
Down a hallway and past a library sitting area, a new elevator bank for the hotel's customers was built, keeping the building's two tenants separate.
On Feb. 24, Perini's contractors worked feverishly to finish the lobby, restaurant and outdoor area. Chandeliers had yet to be hung, the wall's vinyl had yet to be applied, an outdoor staircase that led to the pool deck had yet to be completed and the reception agents' desks had yet to be placed.
The hotel was set to open in two weeks.
Training begins
That morning, Paula Muñoz Chavez woke up for the first time in one of the hotel's rooms.
It had not yet opened to the public, but Chavez, 24 and from Mexico City, had been given permission by her new employer to stay in one of the 242 guest rooms while she searched for an apartment. She would live in the hotel for two weeks.
Muñoz Chavez was one of 145 employees chosen to work at the new Westin. The hotel received more than 7,500 applications.
She works in the kitchen, preparing cold-food items. Eventually, she will prepare hot entrees for Province customers, in-room diners and poolside guests.
Her passion has always been cooking and traveling, she said.
Just one day before her flight to Phoenix, Muñoz Chavez received her work visa. She began her new job a day after arriving in the Valley.
"My transition has been very fast, very busy," Muñoz Chavez said on Feb. 28. "I'm living in the hotel right now - kind of the Monopoly lifestyle."
Long hours
On the same day, Lemuel Hill jotted notes in a little black notebook, reminders of areas he needed to tidy.
Hill is one the new Westin's housekeeping employees. While Perini's contractors would clean up after themselves, construction in the building meant the constant presence of dust, he said.
"I really believe in this place," Hill said. "I really believe it will succeed. I want to ensure it's as clean as possible for the guests who are arriving soon."
Before the opening, Hill worked long hours, tidying up the hallways and rooms.
So did the so-called road warriors, such as Timothy Swanson, project manager at Kane Hospitality Services, and Kevin Lawrence, operations project manager at Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Westin's parent company. Both men moved to the city for a short while to aid the hotel in opening.
Lawrence led the team that ensured the hotel's supplies - such as pillows, towels and coffeepots - arrived on time. Although he didn't create the budget for fixtures, furniture and equipment - the building owner's role - he did budget for the hotel's operating supplies and equipment.
"If you shook the hotel, everything that falls out, I buy," Lawrence said.
Swanson was responsible for the shipment of all furniture and supplies. But the structure of the building - which only has one dock and one service elevator that is shared with Freeport-McMoRan - prevented scheduling of shipments during daytime hours. From December to March, Swanson scheduled about 140 nighttime hotel shipments and was there to accept them.
In the last weeks before the hotel's grand opening, the hotel received as many as three truckloads of furniture and "pick and packs." They contain all the room's miscellaneous items, such as towels, pillows and hangers, in individual boxes.
"The pick and packs mean that we aren't running through the hallways throwing items into rooms just before opening like we used to," Lawrence said, laughing.
Finishing touches
On Monday, three days before the hotel's grand opening, the hotel's outdoor and entry areas were coming together.
Province's outside patio was landscaped, and the lobby's reception desks were in place. Vinyl had been applied to walls, and all the flooring was installed.
Inside, Chloe Woods, one of the hotel's reception agents, was practicing via live simulations.
"I have you down for a one-night stay, is that correct?" Woods recited.
With employees and Starwood executives arriving daily, the crunch to put rooms "in service" was felt on floors 11 through 18.
When Perini's contractors finished a floor, a project manager and an engineer, both affiliated with Starwood, inspected each room and either accepted it as is or accepted it with conditions. A "punch list" was then provided to the general contractor detailing any defects in the rooms.
Rooms with defects generally are kept out of the hotel's inventory until they're fixed, said Barton, the hotel general manager.
By the grand opening, floors 11 through 15 had been accepted by hotel management. Floor 16 likely will be accepted late this week, and floors 17 and 18 by the end of the March, Barton said.
Although not all floors have been accepted, construction is finished and the hotel has received its certificate of occupancy. Rooms still must be outfitted on the upper floors.
That means about one-half of the hotel's 242 rooms are available to guests at this time.
"You don't want to open a hotel in June," said Whitaker of National Real Estate Advisors. "Being open at only partial capacity for the first couple weeks is not a big deal. It's important that we are catching the last half of the spring season."
Grand-opening memories
On Thursday morning, a red ribbon on the entryway to the hotel was cut, symbolizing the end of one phase and the beginning of the hotel's public life.
The Westin's employees stood on a walkway leading to the second-story pool deck as Barton, city officials and other dignitaries marked the day.
"The exciting thing for me is when I'm at home and I look at the hotel, and there are lights on in the windows," Hill, of housekeeping, said. "I know I was a part of that."
by Megan Neighbor The Arizona Republic Mar. 13, 2011 12:00 AM
Westin quickly opens in Phoenix office space left empty in downturn
The development of the Westin Phoenix Downtown came as a welcome surprise, several years after construction plans for One Central Park East took shape.
The hotel, which opened Thursday, brings another option for visitors and a boost for downtown.
It wasn't meant to end like this. One Central Park East was designed and built to offer Class A office space. Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. occupies the top floors and has its name on the building. But seismic shifts in the economy brought office-vacancy rates to a peak. The building's ownership group, the National Electrical Benefit Plan, had to switch gears.
The idea of a hotel was first floated in June 2009, six months before construction on the 26-story skyscraper was completed. A study conducted by PKF Consulting validated the ownership group's idea: A hotel would be lucrative, especially if it catered to an underserved niche market - independent business travelers.
The study proposed a number of brands for the hotel, including Marriott, Kimpton and Westin. The owners selected Westin, and a deal was struck in spring 2010.
"In 2009, at the depths of the recession, we were coming to them (the Westin) with a shell building that was already in place and the financing to build out the hotel," said Ryan Whitaker, director of equity investments for National Real Estate Advisors, which manages investments for the National Electrical Benefit Fund.
"We were, so to speak, the prettiest girl at the dance."
In August, Perini Building Co., the general contractor hired to build out the hotel, began to transform the space. On the building's first floor are lobbies for each of the building's tenants, followed by nine floors of parking. The Westin sits on floors 11 through 18.
A hotel was born in seven months, with a budget of about $40 million.
"This has been a very short project," said Debra Barton, the hotel's general manager, who started on the job in July. "Typically, this type of project takes about 24 months, but we did this in about 12."
Suppliers and subcontractors pitched in, and the Westin management team grew. Soon, opening day loomed. In the two weeks before the first guest signed in, the hotel's new employees worked to put the finishing touches on the property, train their jobs and learn what it meant to provide Westin service. Each of them already has made a mark on the culture of the hotel.
Seven-month crunch
On Feb. 24, the Westin launched its employee-training program.
The lobby and hotel floors were still a hive of construction activity, with nearly 200 subcontractors on the premises.
The steady buzz of construction began in August and continued until Wednesday, the day before the hotel's grand opening.
Last summer, the eight floors that would become the Westin's meeting space and guest rooms were void of walls, flooring and plumbing infrastructure that could accommodate bathrooms for individual guest rooms.
Each floor looked like a vacant warehouse, spanning from glass wall to glass wall.
Even the air-conditioning ducts had to be revised to accommodate individual guest rooms, said Ken Schacherbauer, vice president of operations for Perini.
"It's been a really complex project because of the time frame and because we had to work in an existing and operating building without disturbing its tenant, Freeport-McMoRan," Schacherbauer said.
Altering the building to accommodate a hotel meant putting up walls and adding all the basic amenities, such as bathtubs, showers and sink fixtures.
Extensive construction also had to be completed on the first floor. The western side of the building was extended outward, making room for the hotel's entryway on Central Avenue, signature restaurant Province's indoor and outdoor seating, and a second-story pool. Part of what was Freeport-McMoRan's lobby was partitioned off to become the new Westin's lobby.
Down a hallway and past a library sitting area, a new elevator bank for the hotel's customers was built, keeping the building's two tenants separate.
On Feb. 24, Perini's contractors worked feverishly to finish the lobby, restaurant and outdoor area. Chandeliers had yet to be hung, the wall's vinyl had yet to be applied, an outdoor staircase that led to the pool deck had yet to be completed and the reception agents' desks had yet to be placed.
The hotel was set to open in two weeks.
Training begins
That morning, Paula Muñoz Chavez woke up for the first time in one of the hotel's rooms.
It had not yet opened to the public, but Chavez, 24 and from Mexico City, had been given permission by her new employer to stay in one of the 242 guest rooms while she searched for an apartment. She would live in the hotel for two weeks.
Muñoz Chavez was one of 145 employees chosen to work at the new Westin. The hotel received more than 7,500 applications.
She works in the kitchen, preparing cold-food items. Eventually, she will prepare hot entrees for Province customers, in-room diners and poolside guests.
Her passion has always been cooking and traveling, she said.
Just one day before her flight to Phoenix, Muñoz Chavez received her work visa. She began her new job a day after arriving in the Valley.
"My transition has been very fast, very busy," Muñoz Chavez said on Feb. 28. "I'm living in the hotel right now - kind of the Monopoly lifestyle."
Long hours
On the same day, Lemuel Hill jotted notes in a little black notebook, reminders of areas he needed to tidy.
Hill is one the new Westin's housekeeping employees. While Perini's contractors would clean up after themselves, construction in the building meant the constant presence of dust, he said.
"I really believe in this place," Hill said. "I really believe it will succeed. I want to ensure it's as clean as possible for the guests who are arriving soon."
Before the opening, Hill worked long hours, tidying up the hallways and rooms.
So did the so-called road warriors, such as Timothy Swanson, project manager at Kane Hospitality Services, and Kevin Lawrence, operations project manager at Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Westin's parent company. Both men moved to the city for a short while to aid the hotel in opening.
Lawrence led the team that ensured the hotel's supplies - such as pillows, towels and coffeepots - arrived on time. Although he didn't create the budget for fixtures, furniture and equipment - the building owner's role - he did budget for the hotel's operating supplies and equipment.
"If you shook the hotel, everything that falls out, I buy," Lawrence said.
Swanson was responsible for the shipment of all furniture and supplies. But the structure of the building - which only has one dock and one service elevator that is shared with Freeport-McMoRan - prevented scheduling of shipments during daytime hours. From December to March, Swanson scheduled about 140 nighttime hotel shipments and was there to accept them.
In the last weeks before the hotel's grand opening, the hotel received as many as three truckloads of furniture and "pick and packs." They contain all the room's miscellaneous items, such as towels, pillows and hangers, in individual boxes.
"The pick and packs mean that we aren't running through the hallways throwing items into rooms just before opening like we used to," Lawrence said, laughing.
Finishing touches
On Monday, three days before the hotel's grand opening, the hotel's outdoor and entry areas were coming together.
Province's outside patio was landscaped, and the lobby's reception desks were in place. Vinyl had been applied to walls, and all the flooring was installed.
Inside, Chloe Woods, one of the hotel's reception agents, was practicing via live simulations.
"I have you down for a one-night stay, is that correct?" Woods recited.
With employees and Starwood executives arriving daily, the crunch to put rooms "in service" was felt on floors 11 through 18.
When Perini's contractors finished a floor, a project manager and an engineer, both affiliated with Starwood, inspected each room and either accepted it as is or accepted it with conditions. A "punch list" was then provided to the general contractor detailing any defects in the rooms.
Rooms with defects generally are kept out of the hotel's inventory until they're fixed, said Barton, the hotel general manager.
By the grand opening, floors 11 through 15 had been accepted by hotel management. Floor 16 likely will be accepted late this week, and floors 17 and 18 by the end of the March, Barton said.
Although not all floors have been accepted, construction is finished and the hotel has received its certificate of occupancy. Rooms still must be outfitted on the upper floors.
That means about one-half of the hotel's 242 rooms are available to guests at this time.
"You don't want to open a hotel in June," said Whitaker of National Real Estate Advisors. "Being open at only partial capacity for the first couple weeks is not a big deal. It's important that we are catching the last half of the spring season."
Grand-opening memories
On Thursday morning, a red ribbon on the entryway to the hotel was cut, symbolizing the end of one phase and the beginning of the hotel's public life.
The Westin's employees stood on a walkway leading to the second-story pool deck as Barton, city officials and other dignitaries marked the day.
"The exciting thing for me is when I'm at home and I look at the hotel, and there are lights on in the windows," Hill, of housekeeping, said. "I know I was a part of that."
by Megan Neighbor The Arizona Republic Mar. 13, 2011 12:00 AM
Westin quickly opens in Phoenix office space left empty in downturn
Westin quickly opens in Phoenix office space left empty in downturn
In sprawling Phoenix, the idea of a high-end hotel being crafted into the shell of a vacant new office building is notable. Even more intriguing is when it's done by an ownership group at lightning speed at the tail end of a devastating recession.
The development of the Westin Phoenix Downtown came as a welcome surprise, several years after construction plans for One Central Park East took shape.
The hotel, which opened Thursday, brings another option for visitors and a boost for downtown.
It wasn't meant to end like this. One Central Park East was designed and built to offer Class A office space. Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. occupies the top floors and has its name on the building. But seismic shifts in the economy brought office-vacancy rates to a peak. The building's ownership group, the National Electrical Benefit Plan, had to switch gears.
The idea of a hotel was first floated in June 2009, six months before construction on the 26-story skyscraper was completed. A study conducted by PKF Consulting validated the ownership group's idea: A hotel would be lucrative, especially if it catered to an underserved niche market - independent business travelers.
The study proposed a number of brands for the hotel, including Marriott, Kimpton and Westin. The owners selected Westin, and a deal was struck in spring 2010.
"In 2009, at the depths of the recession, we were coming to them (the Westin) with a shell building that was already in place and the financing to build out the hotel," said Ryan Whitaker, director of equity investments for National Real Estate Advisors, which manages investments for the National Electrical Benefit Fund.
"We were, so to speak, the prettiest girl at the dance."
In August, Perini Building Co., the general contractor hired to build out the hotel, began to transform the space. On the building's first floor are lobbies for each of the building's tenants, followed by nine floors of parking. The Westin sits on floors 11 through 18.
A hotel was born in seven months, with a budget of about $40 million.
"This has been a very short project," said Debra Barton, the hotel's general manager, who started on the job in July. "Typically, this type of project takes about 24 months, but we did this in about 12."
Suppliers and subcontractors pitched in, and the Westin management team grew. Soon, opening day loomed. In the two weeks before the first guest signed in, the hotel's new employees worked to put the finishing touches on the property, train their jobs and learn what it meant to provide Westin service. Each of them already has made a mark on the culture of the hotel.
Seven-month crunch
On Feb. 24, the Westin launched its employee-training program.
The lobby and hotel floors were still a hive of construction activity, with nearly 200 subcontractors on the premises.
The steady buzz of construction began in August and continued until Wednesday, the day before the hotel's grand opening.
Last summer, the eight floors that would become the Westin's meeting space and guest rooms were void of walls, flooring and plumbing infrastructure that could accommodate bathrooms for individual guest rooms.
Each floor looked like a vacant warehouse, spanning from glass wall to glass wall.
Even the air-conditioning ducts had to be revised to accommodate individual guest rooms, said Ken Schacherbauer, vice president of operations for Perini.
"It's been a really complex project because of the time frame and because we had to work in an existing and operating building without disturbing its tenant, Freeport-McMoRan," Schacherbauer said.
Altering the building to accommodate a hotel meant putting up walls and adding all the basic amenities, such as bathtubs, showers and sink fixtures.
Extensive construction also had to be completed on the first floor. The western side of the building was extended outward, making room for the hotel's entryway on Central Avenue, signature restaurant Province's indoor and outdoor seating, and a second-story pool. Part of what was Freeport-McMoRan's lobby was partitioned off to become the new Westin's lobby.
Down a hallway and past a library sitting area, a new elevator bank for the hotel's customers was built, keeping the building's two tenants separate.
On Feb. 24, Perini's contractors worked feverishly to finish the lobby, restaurant and outdoor area. Chandeliers had yet to be hung, the wall's vinyl had yet to be applied, an outdoor staircase that led to the pool deck had yet to be completed and the reception agents' desks had yet to be placed.
The hotel was set to open in two weeks.
Training begins
That morning, Paula Muñoz Chavez woke up for the first time in one of the hotel's rooms.
It had not yet opened to the public, but Chavez, 24 and from Mexico City, had been given permission by her new employer to stay in one of the 242 guest rooms while she searched for an apartment. She would live in the hotel for two weeks.
Muñoz Chavez was one of 145 employees chosen to work at the new Westin. The hotel received more than 7,500 applications.
She works in the kitchen, preparing cold-food items. Eventually, she will prepare hot entrees for Province customers, in-room diners and poolside guests.
Her passion has always been cooking and traveling, she said.
Just one day before her flight to Phoenix, Muñoz Chavez received her work visa. She began her new job a day after arriving in the Valley.
"My transition has been very fast, very busy," Muñoz Chavez said on Feb. 28. "I'm living in the hotel right now - kind of the Monopoly lifestyle."
Long hours
On the same day, Lemuel Hill jotted notes in a little black notebook, reminders of areas he needed to tidy.
Hill is one the new Westin's housekeeping employees. While Perini's contractors would clean up after themselves, construction in the building meant the constant presence of dust, he said.
"I really believe in this place," Hill said. "I really believe it will succeed. I want to ensure it's as clean as possible for the guests who are arriving soon."
Before the opening, Hill worked long hours, tidying up the hallways and rooms.
So did the so-called road warriors, such as Timothy Swanson, project manager at Kane Hospitality Services, and Kevin Lawrence, operations project manager at Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Westin's parent company. Both men moved to the city for a short while to aid the hotel in opening.
Lawrence led the team that ensured the hotel's supplies - such as pillows, towels and coffeepots - arrived on time. Although he didn't create the budget for fixtures, furniture and equipment - the building owner's role - he did budget for the hotel's operating supplies and equipment.
"If you shook the hotel, everything that falls out, I buy," Lawrence said.
Swanson was responsible for the shipment of all furniture and supplies. But the structure of the building - which only has one dock and one service elevator that is shared with Freeport-McMoRan - prevented scheduling of shipments during daytime hours. From December to March, Swanson scheduled about 140 nighttime hotel shipments and was there to accept them.
In the last weeks before the hotel's grand opening, the hotel received as many as three truckloads of furniture and "pick and packs." They contain all the room's miscellaneous items, such as towels, pillows and hangers, in individual boxes.
"The pick and packs mean that we aren't running through the hallways throwing items into rooms just before opening like we used to," Lawrence said, laughing.
Finishing touches
On Monday, three days before the hotel's grand opening, the hotel's outdoor and entry areas were coming together.
Province's outside patio was landscaped, and the lobby's reception desks were in place. Vinyl had been applied to walls, and all the flooring was installed.
Inside, Chloe Woods, one of the hotel's reception agents, was practicing via live simulations.
"I have you down for a one-night stay, is that correct?" Woods recited.
With employees and Starwood executives arriving daily, the crunch to put rooms "in service" was felt on floors 11 through 18.
When Perini's contractors finished a floor, a project manager and an engineer, both affiliated with Starwood, inspected each room and either accepted it as is or accepted it with conditions. A "punch list" was then provided to the general contractor detailing any defects in the rooms.
Rooms with defects generally are kept out of the hotel's inventory until they're fixed, said Barton, the hotel general manager.
By the grand opening, floors 11 through 15 had been accepted by hotel management. Floor 16 likely will be accepted late this week, and floors 17 and 18 by the end of the March, Barton said.
Although not all floors have been accepted, construction is finished and the hotel has received its certificate of occupancy. Rooms still must be outfitted on the upper floors.
That means about one-half of the hotel's 242 rooms are available to guests at this time.
"You don't want to open a hotel in June," said Whitaker of National Real Estate Advisors. "Being open at only partial capacity for the first couple weeks is not a big deal. It's important that we are catching the last half of the spring season."
Grand-opening memories
On Thursday morning, a red ribbon on the entryway to the hotel was cut, symbolizing the end of one phase and the beginning of the hotel's public life.
The Westin's employees stood on a walkway leading to the second-story pool deck as Barton, city officials and other dignitaries marked the day.
"The exciting thing for me is when I'm at home and I look at the hotel, and there are lights on in the windows," Hill, of housekeeping, said. "I know I was a part of that."
by Megan Neighbor The Arizona Republic Mar. 13, 2011 12:00 AM
Westin quickly opens in Phoenix office space left empty in downturn
The development of the Westin Phoenix Downtown came as a welcome surprise, several years after construction plans for One Central Park East took shape.
The hotel, which opened Thursday, brings another option for visitors and a boost for downtown.
It wasn't meant to end like this. One Central Park East was designed and built to offer Class A office space. Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. occupies the top floors and has its name on the building. But seismic shifts in the economy brought office-vacancy rates to a peak. The building's ownership group, the National Electrical Benefit Plan, had to switch gears.
The idea of a hotel was first floated in June 2009, six months before construction on the 26-story skyscraper was completed. A study conducted by PKF Consulting validated the ownership group's idea: A hotel would be lucrative, especially if it catered to an underserved niche market - independent business travelers.
The study proposed a number of brands for the hotel, including Marriott, Kimpton and Westin. The owners selected Westin, and a deal was struck in spring 2010.
"In 2009, at the depths of the recession, we were coming to them (the Westin) with a shell building that was already in place and the financing to build out the hotel," said Ryan Whitaker, director of equity investments for National Real Estate Advisors, which manages investments for the National Electrical Benefit Fund.
"We were, so to speak, the prettiest girl at the dance."
In August, Perini Building Co., the general contractor hired to build out the hotel, began to transform the space. On the building's first floor are lobbies for each of the building's tenants, followed by nine floors of parking. The Westin sits on floors 11 through 18.
A hotel was born in seven months, with a budget of about $40 million.
"This has been a very short project," said Debra Barton, the hotel's general manager, who started on the job in July. "Typically, this type of project takes about 24 months, but we did this in about 12."
Suppliers and subcontractors pitched in, and the Westin management team grew. Soon, opening day loomed. In the two weeks before the first guest signed in, the hotel's new employees worked to put the finishing touches on the property, train their jobs and learn what it meant to provide Westin service. Each of them already has made a mark on the culture of the hotel.
Seven-month crunch
On Feb. 24, the Westin launched its employee-training program.
The lobby and hotel floors were still a hive of construction activity, with nearly 200 subcontractors on the premises.
The steady buzz of construction began in August and continued until Wednesday, the day before the hotel's grand opening.
Last summer, the eight floors that would become the Westin's meeting space and guest rooms were void of walls, flooring and plumbing infrastructure that could accommodate bathrooms for individual guest rooms.
Each floor looked like a vacant warehouse, spanning from glass wall to glass wall.
Even the air-conditioning ducts had to be revised to accommodate individual guest rooms, said Ken Schacherbauer, vice president of operations for Perini.
"It's been a really complex project because of the time frame and because we had to work in an existing and operating building without disturbing its tenant, Freeport-McMoRan," Schacherbauer said.
Altering the building to accommodate a hotel meant putting up walls and adding all the basic amenities, such as bathtubs, showers and sink fixtures.
Extensive construction also had to be completed on the first floor. The western side of the building was extended outward, making room for the hotel's entryway on Central Avenue, signature restaurant Province's indoor and outdoor seating, and a second-story pool. Part of what was Freeport-McMoRan's lobby was partitioned off to become the new Westin's lobby.
Down a hallway and past a library sitting area, a new elevator bank for the hotel's customers was built, keeping the building's two tenants separate.
On Feb. 24, Perini's contractors worked feverishly to finish the lobby, restaurant and outdoor area. Chandeliers had yet to be hung, the wall's vinyl had yet to be applied, an outdoor staircase that led to the pool deck had yet to be completed and the reception agents' desks had yet to be placed.
The hotel was set to open in two weeks.
Training begins
That morning, Paula Muñoz Chavez woke up for the first time in one of the hotel's rooms.
It had not yet opened to the public, but Chavez, 24 and from Mexico City, had been given permission by her new employer to stay in one of the 242 guest rooms while she searched for an apartment. She would live in the hotel for two weeks.
Muñoz Chavez was one of 145 employees chosen to work at the new Westin. The hotel received more than 7,500 applications.
She works in the kitchen, preparing cold-food items. Eventually, she will prepare hot entrees for Province customers, in-room diners and poolside guests.
Her passion has always been cooking and traveling, she said.
Just one day before her flight to Phoenix, Muñoz Chavez received her work visa. She began her new job a day after arriving in the Valley.
"My transition has been very fast, very busy," Muñoz Chavez said on Feb. 28. "I'm living in the hotel right now - kind of the Monopoly lifestyle."
Long hours
On the same day, Lemuel Hill jotted notes in a little black notebook, reminders of areas he needed to tidy.
Hill is one the new Westin's housekeeping employees. While Perini's contractors would clean up after themselves, construction in the building meant the constant presence of dust, he said.
"I really believe in this place," Hill said. "I really believe it will succeed. I want to ensure it's as clean as possible for the guests who are arriving soon."
Before the opening, Hill worked long hours, tidying up the hallways and rooms.
So did the so-called road warriors, such as Timothy Swanson, project manager at Kane Hospitality Services, and Kevin Lawrence, operations project manager at Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Westin's parent company. Both men moved to the city for a short while to aid the hotel in opening.
Lawrence led the team that ensured the hotel's supplies - such as pillows, towels and coffeepots - arrived on time. Although he didn't create the budget for fixtures, furniture and equipment - the building owner's role - he did budget for the hotel's operating supplies and equipment.
"If you shook the hotel, everything that falls out, I buy," Lawrence said.
Swanson was responsible for the shipment of all furniture and supplies. But the structure of the building - which only has one dock and one service elevator that is shared with Freeport-McMoRan - prevented scheduling of shipments during daytime hours. From December to March, Swanson scheduled about 140 nighttime hotel shipments and was there to accept them.
In the last weeks before the hotel's grand opening, the hotel received as many as three truckloads of furniture and "pick and packs." They contain all the room's miscellaneous items, such as towels, pillows and hangers, in individual boxes.
"The pick and packs mean that we aren't running through the hallways throwing items into rooms just before opening like we used to," Lawrence said, laughing.
Finishing touches
On Monday, three days before the hotel's grand opening, the hotel's outdoor and entry areas were coming together.
Province's outside patio was landscaped, and the lobby's reception desks were in place. Vinyl had been applied to walls, and all the flooring was installed.
Inside, Chloe Woods, one of the hotel's reception agents, was practicing via live simulations.
"I have you down for a one-night stay, is that correct?" Woods recited.
With employees and Starwood executives arriving daily, the crunch to put rooms "in service" was felt on floors 11 through 18.
When Perini's contractors finished a floor, a project manager and an engineer, both affiliated with Starwood, inspected each room and either accepted it as is or accepted it with conditions. A "punch list" was then provided to the general contractor detailing any defects in the rooms.
Rooms with defects generally are kept out of the hotel's inventory until they're fixed, said Barton, the hotel general manager.
By the grand opening, floors 11 through 15 had been accepted by hotel management. Floor 16 likely will be accepted late this week, and floors 17 and 18 by the end of the March, Barton said.
Although not all floors have been accepted, construction is finished and the hotel has received its certificate of occupancy. Rooms still must be outfitted on the upper floors.
That means about one-half of the hotel's 242 rooms are available to guests at this time.
"You don't want to open a hotel in June," said Whitaker of National Real Estate Advisors. "Being open at only partial capacity for the first couple weeks is not a big deal. It's important that we are catching the last half of the spring season."
Grand-opening memories
On Thursday morning, a red ribbon on the entryway to the hotel was cut, symbolizing the end of one phase and the beginning of the hotel's public life.
The Westin's employees stood on a walkway leading to the second-story pool deck as Barton, city officials and other dignitaries marked the day.
"The exciting thing for me is when I'm at home and I look at the hotel, and there are lights on in the windows," Hill, of housekeeping, said. "I know I was a part of that."
by Megan Neighbor The Arizona Republic Mar. 13, 2011 12:00 AM
Westin quickly opens in Phoenix office space left empty in downturn
Westin quickly opens in Phoenix office space left empty in downturn
In sprawling Phoenix, the idea of a high-end hotel being crafted into the shell of a vacant new office building is notable. Even more intriguing is when it's done by an ownership group at lightning speed at the tail end of a devastating recession.
The development of the Westin Phoenix Downtown came as a welcome surprise, several years after construction plans for One Central Park East took shape.
The hotel, which opened Thursday, brings another option for visitors and a boost for downtown.
It wasn't meant to end like this. One Central Park East was designed and built to offer Class A office space. Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. occupies the top floors and has its name on the building. But seismic shifts in the economy brought office-vacancy rates to a peak. The building's ownership group, the National Electrical Benefit Plan, had to switch gears.
The idea of a hotel was first floated in June 2009, six months before construction on the 26-story skyscraper was completed. A study conducted by PKF Consulting validated the ownership group's idea: A hotel would be lucrative, especially if it catered to an underserved niche market - independent business travelers.
The study proposed a number of brands for the hotel, including Marriott, Kimpton and Westin. The owners selected Westin, and a deal was struck in spring 2010.
"In 2009, at the depths of the recession, we were coming to them (the Westin) with a shell building that was already in place and the financing to build out the hotel," said Ryan Whitaker, director of equity investments for National Real Estate Advisors, which manages investments for the National Electrical Benefit Fund.
"We were, so to speak, the prettiest girl at the dance."
In August, Perini Building Co., the general contractor hired to build out the hotel, began to transform the space. On the building's first floor are lobbies for each of the building's tenants, followed by nine floors of parking. The Westin sits on floors 11 through 18.
A hotel was born in seven months, with a budget of about $40 million.
"This has been a very short project," said Debra Barton, the hotel's general manager, who started on the job in July. "Typically, this type of project takes about 24 months, but we did this in about 12."
Suppliers and subcontractors pitched in, and the Westin management team grew. Soon, opening day loomed. In the two weeks before the first guest signed in, the hotel's new employees worked to put the finishing touches on the property, train their jobs and learn what it meant to provide Westin service. Each of them already has made a mark on the culture of the hotel.
Seven-month crunch
On Feb. 24, the Westin launched its employee-training program.
The lobby and hotel floors were still a hive of construction activity, with nearly 200 subcontractors on the premises.
The steady buzz of construction began in August and continued until Wednesday, the day before the hotel's grand opening.
Last summer, the eight floors that would become the Westin's meeting space and guest rooms were void of walls, flooring and plumbing infrastructure that could accommodate bathrooms for individual guest rooms.
Each floor looked like a vacant warehouse, spanning from glass wall to glass wall.
Even the air-conditioning ducts had to be revised to accommodate individual guest rooms, said Ken Schacherbauer, vice president of operations for Perini.
"It's been a really complex project because of the time frame and because we had to work in an existing and operating building without disturbing its tenant, Freeport-McMoRan," Schacherbauer said.
Altering the building to accommodate a hotel meant putting up walls and adding all the basic amenities, such as bathtubs, showers and sink fixtures.
Extensive construction also had to be completed on the first floor. The western side of the building was extended outward, making room for the hotel's entryway on Central Avenue, signature restaurant Province's indoor and outdoor seating, and a second-story pool. Part of what was Freeport-McMoRan's lobby was partitioned off to become the new Westin's lobby.
Down a hallway and past a library sitting area, a new elevator bank for the hotel's customers was built, keeping the building's two tenants separate.
On Feb. 24, Perini's contractors worked feverishly to finish the lobby, restaurant and outdoor area. Chandeliers had yet to be hung, the wall's vinyl had yet to be applied, an outdoor staircase that led to the pool deck had yet to be completed and the reception agents' desks had yet to be placed.
The hotel was set to open in two weeks.
Training begins
That morning, Paula Muñoz Chavez woke up for the first time in one of the hotel's rooms.
It had not yet opened to the public, but Chavez, 24 and from Mexico City, had been given permission by her new employer to stay in one of the 242 guest rooms while she searched for an apartment. She would live in the hotel for two weeks.
Muñoz Chavez was one of 145 employees chosen to work at the new Westin. The hotel received more than 7,500 applications.
She works in the kitchen, preparing cold-food items. Eventually, she will prepare hot entrees for Province customers, in-room diners and poolside guests.
Her passion has always been cooking and traveling, she said.
Just one day before her flight to Phoenix, Muñoz Chavez received her work visa. She began her new job a day after arriving in the Valley.
"My transition has been very fast, very busy," Muñoz Chavez said on Feb. 28. "I'm living in the hotel right now - kind of the Monopoly lifestyle."
Long hours
On the same day, Lemuel Hill jotted notes in a little black notebook, reminders of areas he needed to tidy.
Hill is one the new Westin's housekeeping employees. While Perini's contractors would clean up after themselves, construction in the building meant the constant presence of dust, he said.
"I really believe in this place," Hill said. "I really believe it will succeed. I want to ensure it's as clean as possible for the guests who are arriving soon."
Before the opening, Hill worked long hours, tidying up the hallways and rooms.
So did the so-called road warriors, such as Timothy Swanson, project manager at Kane Hospitality Services, and Kevin Lawrence, operations project manager at Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Westin's parent company. Both men moved to the city for a short while to aid the hotel in opening.
Lawrence led the team that ensured the hotel's supplies - such as pillows, towels and coffeepots - arrived on time. Although he didn't create the budget for fixtures, furniture and equipment - the building owner's role - he did budget for the hotel's operating supplies and equipment.
"If you shook the hotel, everything that falls out, I buy," Lawrence said.
Swanson was responsible for the shipment of all furniture and supplies. But the structure of the building - which only has one dock and one service elevator that is shared with Freeport-McMoRan - prevented scheduling of shipments during daytime hours. From December to March, Swanson scheduled about 140 nighttime hotel shipments and was there to accept them.
In the last weeks before the hotel's grand opening, the hotel received as many as three truckloads of furniture and "pick and packs." They contain all the room's miscellaneous items, such as towels, pillows and hangers, in individual boxes.
"The pick and packs mean that we aren't running through the hallways throwing items into rooms just before opening like we used to," Lawrence said, laughing.
Finishing touches
On Monday, three days before the hotel's grand opening, the hotel's outdoor and entry areas were coming together.
Province's outside patio was landscaped, and the lobby's reception desks were in place. Vinyl had been applied to walls, and all the flooring was installed.
Inside, Chloe Woods, one of the hotel's reception agents, was practicing via live simulations.
"I have you down for a one-night stay, is that correct?" Woods recited.
With employees and Starwood executives arriving daily, the crunch to put rooms "in service" was felt on floors 11 through 18.
When Perini's contractors finished a floor, a project manager and an engineer, both affiliated with Starwood, inspected each room and either accepted it as is or accepted it with conditions. A "punch list" was then provided to the general contractor detailing any defects in the rooms.
Rooms with defects generally are kept out of the hotel's inventory until they're fixed, said Barton, the hotel general manager.
By the grand opening, floors 11 through 15 had been accepted by hotel management. Floor 16 likely will be accepted late this week, and floors 17 and 18 by the end of the March, Barton said.
Although not all floors have been accepted, construction is finished and the hotel has received its certificate of occupancy. Rooms still must be outfitted on the upper floors.
That means about one-half of the hotel's 242 rooms are available to guests at this time.
"You don't want to open a hotel in June," said Whitaker of National Real Estate Advisors. "Being open at only partial capacity for the first couple weeks is not a big deal. It's important that we are catching the last half of the spring season."
Grand-opening memories
On Thursday morning, a red ribbon on the entryway to the hotel was cut, symbolizing the end of one phase and the beginning of the hotel's public life.
The Westin's employees stood on a walkway leading to the second-story pool deck as Barton, city officials and other dignitaries marked the day.
"The exciting thing for me is when I'm at home and I look at the hotel, and there are lights on in the windows," Hill, of housekeeping, said. "I know I was a part of that."
by Megan Neighbor The Arizona Republic Mar. 13, 2011 12:00 AM
Westin quickly opens in Phoenix office space left empty in downturn
The development of the Westin Phoenix Downtown came as a welcome surprise, several years after construction plans for One Central Park East took shape.
The hotel, which opened Thursday, brings another option for visitors and a boost for downtown.
It wasn't meant to end like this. One Central Park East was designed and built to offer Class A office space. Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. occupies the top floors and has its name on the building. But seismic shifts in the economy brought office-vacancy rates to a peak. The building's ownership group, the National Electrical Benefit Plan, had to switch gears.
The idea of a hotel was first floated in June 2009, six months before construction on the 26-story skyscraper was completed. A study conducted by PKF Consulting validated the ownership group's idea: A hotel would be lucrative, especially if it catered to an underserved niche market - independent business travelers.
The study proposed a number of brands for the hotel, including Marriott, Kimpton and Westin. The owners selected Westin, and a deal was struck in spring 2010.
"In 2009, at the depths of the recession, we were coming to them (the Westin) with a shell building that was already in place and the financing to build out the hotel," said Ryan Whitaker, director of equity investments for National Real Estate Advisors, which manages investments for the National Electrical Benefit Fund.
"We were, so to speak, the prettiest girl at the dance."
In August, Perini Building Co., the general contractor hired to build out the hotel, began to transform the space. On the building's first floor are lobbies for each of the building's tenants, followed by nine floors of parking. The Westin sits on floors 11 through 18.
A hotel was born in seven months, with a budget of about $40 million.
"This has been a very short project," said Debra Barton, the hotel's general manager, who started on the job in July. "Typically, this type of project takes about 24 months, but we did this in about 12."
Suppliers and subcontractors pitched in, and the Westin management team grew. Soon, opening day loomed. In the two weeks before the first guest signed in, the hotel's new employees worked to put the finishing touches on the property, train their jobs and learn what it meant to provide Westin service. Each of them already has made a mark on the culture of the hotel.
Seven-month crunch
On Feb. 24, the Westin launched its employee-training program.
The lobby and hotel floors were still a hive of construction activity, with nearly 200 subcontractors on the premises.
The steady buzz of construction began in August and continued until Wednesday, the day before the hotel's grand opening.
Last summer, the eight floors that would become the Westin's meeting space and guest rooms were void of walls, flooring and plumbing infrastructure that could accommodate bathrooms for individual guest rooms.
Each floor looked like a vacant warehouse, spanning from glass wall to glass wall.
Even the air-conditioning ducts had to be revised to accommodate individual guest rooms, said Ken Schacherbauer, vice president of operations for Perini.
"It's been a really complex project because of the time frame and because we had to work in an existing and operating building without disturbing its tenant, Freeport-McMoRan," Schacherbauer said.
Altering the building to accommodate a hotel meant putting up walls and adding all the basic amenities, such as bathtubs, showers and sink fixtures.
Extensive construction also had to be completed on the first floor. The western side of the building was extended outward, making room for the hotel's entryway on Central Avenue, signature restaurant Province's indoor and outdoor seating, and a second-story pool. Part of what was Freeport-McMoRan's lobby was partitioned off to become the new Westin's lobby.
Down a hallway and past a library sitting area, a new elevator bank for the hotel's customers was built, keeping the building's two tenants separate.
On Feb. 24, Perini's contractors worked feverishly to finish the lobby, restaurant and outdoor area. Chandeliers had yet to be hung, the wall's vinyl had yet to be applied, an outdoor staircase that led to the pool deck had yet to be completed and the reception agents' desks had yet to be placed.
The hotel was set to open in two weeks.
Training begins
That morning, Paula Muñoz Chavez woke up for the first time in one of the hotel's rooms.
It had not yet opened to the public, but Chavez, 24 and from Mexico City, had been given permission by her new employer to stay in one of the 242 guest rooms while she searched for an apartment. She would live in the hotel for two weeks.
Muñoz Chavez was one of 145 employees chosen to work at the new Westin. The hotel received more than 7,500 applications.
She works in the kitchen, preparing cold-food items. Eventually, she will prepare hot entrees for Province customers, in-room diners and poolside guests.
Her passion has always been cooking and traveling, she said.
Just one day before her flight to Phoenix, Muñoz Chavez received her work visa. She began her new job a day after arriving in the Valley.
"My transition has been very fast, very busy," Muñoz Chavez said on Feb. 28. "I'm living in the hotel right now - kind of the Monopoly lifestyle."
Long hours
On the same day, Lemuel Hill jotted notes in a little black notebook, reminders of areas he needed to tidy.
Hill is one the new Westin's housekeeping employees. While Perini's contractors would clean up after themselves, construction in the building meant the constant presence of dust, he said.
"I really believe in this place," Hill said. "I really believe it will succeed. I want to ensure it's as clean as possible for the guests who are arriving soon."
Before the opening, Hill worked long hours, tidying up the hallways and rooms.
So did the so-called road warriors, such as Timothy Swanson, project manager at Kane Hospitality Services, and Kevin Lawrence, operations project manager at Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Westin's parent company. Both men moved to the city for a short while to aid the hotel in opening.
Lawrence led the team that ensured the hotel's supplies - such as pillows, towels and coffeepots - arrived on time. Although he didn't create the budget for fixtures, furniture and equipment - the building owner's role - he did budget for the hotel's operating supplies and equipment.
"If you shook the hotel, everything that falls out, I buy," Lawrence said.
Swanson was responsible for the shipment of all furniture and supplies. But the structure of the building - which only has one dock and one service elevator that is shared with Freeport-McMoRan - prevented scheduling of shipments during daytime hours. From December to March, Swanson scheduled about 140 nighttime hotel shipments and was there to accept them.
In the last weeks before the hotel's grand opening, the hotel received as many as three truckloads of furniture and "pick and packs." They contain all the room's miscellaneous items, such as towels, pillows and hangers, in individual boxes.
"The pick and packs mean that we aren't running through the hallways throwing items into rooms just before opening like we used to," Lawrence said, laughing.
Finishing touches
On Monday, three days before the hotel's grand opening, the hotel's outdoor and entry areas were coming together.
Province's outside patio was landscaped, and the lobby's reception desks were in place. Vinyl had been applied to walls, and all the flooring was installed.
Inside, Chloe Woods, one of the hotel's reception agents, was practicing via live simulations.
"I have you down for a one-night stay, is that correct?" Woods recited.
With employees and Starwood executives arriving daily, the crunch to put rooms "in service" was felt on floors 11 through 18.
When Perini's contractors finished a floor, a project manager and an engineer, both affiliated with Starwood, inspected each room and either accepted it as is or accepted it with conditions. A "punch list" was then provided to the general contractor detailing any defects in the rooms.
Rooms with defects generally are kept out of the hotel's inventory until they're fixed, said Barton, the hotel general manager.
By the grand opening, floors 11 through 15 had been accepted by hotel management. Floor 16 likely will be accepted late this week, and floors 17 and 18 by the end of the March, Barton said.
Although not all floors have been accepted, construction is finished and the hotel has received its certificate of occupancy. Rooms still must be outfitted on the upper floors.
That means about one-half of the hotel's 242 rooms are available to guests at this time.
"You don't want to open a hotel in June," said Whitaker of National Real Estate Advisors. "Being open at only partial capacity for the first couple weeks is not a big deal. It's important that we are catching the last half of the spring season."
Grand-opening memories
On Thursday morning, a red ribbon on the entryway to the hotel was cut, symbolizing the end of one phase and the beginning of the hotel's public life.
The Westin's employees stood on a walkway leading to the second-story pool deck as Barton, city officials and other dignitaries marked the day.
"The exciting thing for me is when I'm at home and I look at the hotel, and there are lights on in the windows," Hill, of housekeeping, said. "I know I was a part of that."
by Megan Neighbor The Arizona Republic Mar. 13, 2011 12:00 AM
Westin quickly opens in Phoenix office space left empty in downturn
Westin quickly opens in Phoenix office space left empty in downturn
In sprawling Phoenix, the idea of a high-end hotel being crafted into the shell of a vacant new office building is notable. Even more intriguing is when it's done by an ownership group at lightning speed at the tail end of a devastating recession.
The development of the Westin Phoenix Downtown came as a welcome surprise, several years after construction plans for One Central Park East took shape.
The hotel, which opened Thursday, brings another option for visitors and a boost for downtown.
It wasn't meant to end like this. One Central Park East was designed and built to offer Class A office space. Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. occupies the top floors and has its name on the building. But seismic shifts in the economy brought office-vacancy rates to a peak. The building's ownership group, the National Electrical Benefit Plan, had to switch gears.
The idea of a hotel was first floated in June 2009, six months before construction on the 26-story skyscraper was completed. A study conducted by PKF Consulting validated the ownership group's idea: A hotel would be lucrative, especially if it catered to an underserved niche market - independent business travelers.
The study proposed a number of brands for the hotel, including Marriott, Kimpton and Westin. The owners selected Westin, and a deal was struck in spring 2010.
"In 2009, at the depths of the recession, we were coming to them (the Westin) with a shell building that was already in place and the financing to build out the hotel," said Ryan Whitaker, director of equity investments for National Real Estate Advisors, which manages investments for the National Electrical Benefit Fund.
"We were, so to speak, the prettiest girl at the dance."
In August, Perini Building Co., the general contractor hired to build out the hotel, began to transform the space. On the building's first floor are lobbies for each of the building's tenants, followed by nine floors of parking. The Westin sits on floors 11 through 18.
A hotel was born in seven months, with a budget of about $40 million.
"This has been a very short project," said Debra Barton, the hotel's general manager, who started on the job in July. "Typically, this type of project takes about 24 months, but we did this in about 12."
Suppliers and subcontractors pitched in, and the Westin management team grew. Soon, opening day loomed. In the two weeks before the first guest signed in, the hotel's new employees worked to put the finishing touches on the property, train their jobs and learn what it meant to provide Westin service. Each of them already has made a mark on the culture of the hotel.
Seven-month crunch
On Feb. 24, the Westin launched its employee-training program.
The lobby and hotel floors were still a hive of construction activity, with nearly 200 subcontractors on the premises.
The steady buzz of construction began in August and continued until Wednesday, the day before the hotel's grand opening.
Last summer, the eight floors that would become the Westin's meeting space and guest rooms were void of walls, flooring and plumbing infrastructure that could accommodate bathrooms for individual guest rooms.
Each floor looked like a vacant warehouse, spanning from glass wall to glass wall.
Even the air-conditioning ducts had to be revised to accommodate individual guest rooms, said Ken Schacherbauer, vice president of operations for Perini.
"It's been a really complex project because of the time frame and because we had to work in an existing and operating building without disturbing its tenant, Freeport-McMoRan," Schacherbauer said.
Altering the building to accommodate a hotel meant putting up walls and adding all the basic amenities, such as bathtubs, showers and sink fixtures.
Extensive construction also had to be completed on the first floor. The western side of the building was extended outward, making room for the hotel's entryway on Central Avenue, signature restaurant Province's indoor and outdoor seating, and a second-story pool. Part of what was Freeport-McMoRan's lobby was partitioned off to become the new Westin's lobby.
Down a hallway and past a library sitting area, a new elevator bank for the hotel's customers was built, keeping the building's two tenants separate.
On Feb. 24, Perini's contractors worked feverishly to finish the lobby, restaurant and outdoor area. Chandeliers had yet to be hung, the wall's vinyl had yet to be applied, an outdoor staircase that led to the pool deck had yet to be completed and the reception agents' desks had yet to be placed.
The hotel was set to open in two weeks.
Training begins
That morning, Paula Muñoz Chavez woke up for the first time in one of the hotel's rooms.
It had not yet opened to the public, but Chavez, 24 and from Mexico City, had been given permission by her new employer to stay in one of the 242 guest rooms while she searched for an apartment. She would live in the hotel for two weeks.
Muñoz Chavez was one of 145 employees chosen to work at the new Westin. The hotel received more than 7,500 applications.
She works in the kitchen, preparing cold-food items. Eventually, she will prepare hot entrees for Province customers, in-room diners and poolside guests.
Her passion has always been cooking and traveling, she said.
Just one day before her flight to Phoenix, Muñoz Chavez received her work visa. She began her new job a day after arriving in the Valley.
"My transition has been very fast, very busy," Muñoz Chavez said on Feb. 28. "I'm living in the hotel right now - kind of the Monopoly lifestyle."
Long hours
On the same day, Lemuel Hill jotted notes in a little black notebook, reminders of areas he needed to tidy.
Hill is one the new Westin's housekeeping employees. While Perini's contractors would clean up after themselves, construction in the building meant the constant presence of dust, he said.
"I really believe in this place," Hill said. "I really believe it will succeed. I want to ensure it's as clean as possible for the guests who are arriving soon."
Before the opening, Hill worked long hours, tidying up the hallways and rooms.
So did the so-called road warriors, such as Timothy Swanson, project manager at Kane Hospitality Services, and Kevin Lawrence, operations project manager at Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Westin's parent company. Both men moved to the city for a short while to aid the hotel in opening.
Lawrence led the team that ensured the hotel's supplies - such as pillows, towels and coffeepots - arrived on time. Although he didn't create the budget for fixtures, furniture and equipment - the building owner's role - he did budget for the hotel's operating supplies and equipment.
"If you shook the hotel, everything that falls out, I buy," Lawrence said.
Swanson was responsible for the shipment of all furniture and supplies. But the structure of the building - which only has one dock and one service elevator that is shared with Freeport-McMoRan - prevented scheduling of shipments during daytime hours. From December to March, Swanson scheduled about 140 nighttime hotel shipments and was there to accept them.
In the last weeks before the hotel's grand opening, the hotel received as many as three truckloads of furniture and "pick and packs." They contain all the room's miscellaneous items, such as towels, pillows and hangers, in individual boxes.
"The pick and packs mean that we aren't running through the hallways throwing items into rooms just before opening like we used to," Lawrence said, laughing.
Finishing touches
On Monday, three days before the hotel's grand opening, the hotel's outdoor and entry areas were coming together.
Province's outside patio was landscaped, and the lobby's reception desks were in place. Vinyl had been applied to walls, and all the flooring was installed.
Inside, Chloe Woods, one of the hotel's reception agents, was practicing via live simulations.
"I have you down for a one-night stay, is that correct?" Woods recited.
With employees and Starwood executives arriving daily, the crunch to put rooms "in service" was felt on floors 11 through 18.
When Perini's contractors finished a floor, a project manager and an engineer, both affiliated with Starwood, inspected each room and either accepted it as is or accepted it with conditions. A "punch list" was then provided to the general contractor detailing any defects in the rooms.
Rooms with defects generally are kept out of the hotel's inventory until they're fixed, said Barton, the hotel general manager.
By the grand opening, floors 11 through 15 had been accepted by hotel management. Floor 16 likely will be accepted late this week, and floors 17 and 18 by the end of the March, Barton said.
Although not all floors have been accepted, construction is finished and the hotel has received its certificate of occupancy. Rooms still must be outfitted on the upper floors.
That means about one-half of the hotel's 242 rooms are available to guests at this time.
"You don't want to open a hotel in June," said Whitaker of National Real Estate Advisors. "Being open at only partial capacity for the first couple weeks is not a big deal. It's important that we are catching the last half of the spring season."
Grand-opening memories
On Thursday morning, a red ribbon on the entryway to the hotel was cut, symbolizing the end of one phase and the beginning of the hotel's public life.
The Westin's employees stood on a walkway leading to the second-story pool deck as Barton, city officials and other dignitaries marked the day.
"The exciting thing for me is when I'm at home and I look at the hotel, and there are lights on in the windows," Hill, of housekeeping, said. "I know I was a part of that."
by Megan Neighbor The Arizona Republic Mar. 13, 2011 12:00 AM
Westin quickly opens in Phoenix office space left empty in downturn
The development of the Westin Phoenix Downtown came as a welcome surprise, several years after construction plans for One Central Park East took shape.
The hotel, which opened Thursday, brings another option for visitors and a boost for downtown.
It wasn't meant to end like this. One Central Park East was designed and built to offer Class A office space. Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. occupies the top floors and has its name on the building. But seismic shifts in the economy brought office-vacancy rates to a peak. The building's ownership group, the National Electrical Benefit Plan, had to switch gears.
The idea of a hotel was first floated in June 2009, six months before construction on the 26-story skyscraper was completed. A study conducted by PKF Consulting validated the ownership group's idea: A hotel would be lucrative, especially if it catered to an underserved niche market - independent business travelers.
The study proposed a number of brands for the hotel, including Marriott, Kimpton and Westin. The owners selected Westin, and a deal was struck in spring 2010.
"In 2009, at the depths of the recession, we were coming to them (the Westin) with a shell building that was already in place and the financing to build out the hotel," said Ryan Whitaker, director of equity investments for National Real Estate Advisors, which manages investments for the National Electrical Benefit Fund.
"We were, so to speak, the prettiest girl at the dance."
In August, Perini Building Co., the general contractor hired to build out the hotel, began to transform the space. On the building's first floor are lobbies for each of the building's tenants, followed by nine floors of parking. The Westin sits on floors 11 through 18.
A hotel was born in seven months, with a budget of about $40 million.
"This has been a very short project," said Debra Barton, the hotel's general manager, who started on the job in July. "Typically, this type of project takes about 24 months, but we did this in about 12."
Suppliers and subcontractors pitched in, and the Westin management team grew. Soon, opening day loomed. In the two weeks before the first guest signed in, the hotel's new employees worked to put the finishing touches on the property, train their jobs and learn what it meant to provide Westin service. Each of them already has made a mark on the culture of the hotel.
Seven-month crunch
On Feb. 24, the Westin launched its employee-training program.
The lobby and hotel floors were still a hive of construction activity, with nearly 200 subcontractors on the premises.
The steady buzz of construction began in August and continued until Wednesday, the day before the hotel's grand opening.
Last summer, the eight floors that would become the Westin's meeting space and guest rooms were void of walls, flooring and plumbing infrastructure that could accommodate bathrooms for individual guest rooms.
Each floor looked like a vacant warehouse, spanning from glass wall to glass wall.
Even the air-conditioning ducts had to be revised to accommodate individual guest rooms, said Ken Schacherbauer, vice president of operations for Perini.
"It's been a really complex project because of the time frame and because we had to work in an existing and operating building without disturbing its tenant, Freeport-McMoRan," Schacherbauer said.
Altering the building to accommodate a hotel meant putting up walls and adding all the basic amenities, such as bathtubs, showers and sink fixtures.
Extensive construction also had to be completed on the first floor. The western side of the building was extended outward, making room for the hotel's entryway on Central Avenue, signature restaurant Province's indoor and outdoor seating, and a second-story pool. Part of what was Freeport-McMoRan's lobby was partitioned off to become the new Westin's lobby.
Down a hallway and past a library sitting area, a new elevator bank for the hotel's customers was built, keeping the building's two tenants separate.
On Feb. 24, Perini's contractors worked feverishly to finish the lobby, restaurant and outdoor area. Chandeliers had yet to be hung, the wall's vinyl had yet to be applied, an outdoor staircase that led to the pool deck had yet to be completed and the reception agents' desks had yet to be placed.
The hotel was set to open in two weeks.
Training begins
That morning, Paula Muñoz Chavez woke up for the first time in one of the hotel's rooms.
It had not yet opened to the public, but Chavez, 24 and from Mexico City, had been given permission by her new employer to stay in one of the 242 guest rooms while she searched for an apartment. She would live in the hotel for two weeks.
Muñoz Chavez was one of 145 employees chosen to work at the new Westin. The hotel received more than 7,500 applications.
She works in the kitchen, preparing cold-food items. Eventually, she will prepare hot entrees for Province customers, in-room diners and poolside guests.
Her passion has always been cooking and traveling, she said.
Just one day before her flight to Phoenix, Muñoz Chavez received her work visa. She began her new job a day after arriving in the Valley.
"My transition has been very fast, very busy," Muñoz Chavez said on Feb. 28. "I'm living in the hotel right now - kind of the Monopoly lifestyle."
Long hours
On the same day, Lemuel Hill jotted notes in a little black notebook, reminders of areas he needed to tidy.
Hill is one the new Westin's housekeeping employees. While Perini's contractors would clean up after themselves, construction in the building meant the constant presence of dust, he said.
"I really believe in this place," Hill said. "I really believe it will succeed. I want to ensure it's as clean as possible for the guests who are arriving soon."
Before the opening, Hill worked long hours, tidying up the hallways and rooms.
So did the so-called road warriors, such as Timothy Swanson, project manager at Kane Hospitality Services, and Kevin Lawrence, operations project manager at Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Westin's parent company. Both men moved to the city for a short while to aid the hotel in opening.
Lawrence led the team that ensured the hotel's supplies - such as pillows, towels and coffeepots - arrived on time. Although he didn't create the budget for fixtures, furniture and equipment - the building owner's role - he did budget for the hotel's operating supplies and equipment.
"If you shook the hotel, everything that falls out, I buy," Lawrence said.
Swanson was responsible for the shipment of all furniture and supplies. But the structure of the building - which only has one dock and one service elevator that is shared with Freeport-McMoRan - prevented scheduling of shipments during daytime hours. From December to March, Swanson scheduled about 140 nighttime hotel shipments and was there to accept them.
In the last weeks before the hotel's grand opening, the hotel received as many as three truckloads of furniture and "pick and packs." They contain all the room's miscellaneous items, such as towels, pillows and hangers, in individual boxes.
"The pick and packs mean that we aren't running through the hallways throwing items into rooms just before opening like we used to," Lawrence said, laughing.
Finishing touches
On Monday, three days before the hotel's grand opening, the hotel's outdoor and entry areas were coming together.
Province's outside patio was landscaped, and the lobby's reception desks were in place. Vinyl had been applied to walls, and all the flooring was installed.
Inside, Chloe Woods, one of the hotel's reception agents, was practicing via live simulations.
"I have you down for a one-night stay, is that correct?" Woods recited.
With employees and Starwood executives arriving daily, the crunch to put rooms "in service" was felt on floors 11 through 18.
When Perini's contractors finished a floor, a project manager and an engineer, both affiliated with Starwood, inspected each room and either accepted it as is or accepted it with conditions. A "punch list" was then provided to the general contractor detailing any defects in the rooms.
Rooms with defects generally are kept out of the hotel's inventory until they're fixed, said Barton, the hotel general manager.
By the grand opening, floors 11 through 15 had been accepted by hotel management. Floor 16 likely will be accepted late this week, and floors 17 and 18 by the end of the March, Barton said.
Although not all floors have been accepted, construction is finished and the hotel has received its certificate of occupancy. Rooms still must be outfitted on the upper floors.
That means about one-half of the hotel's 242 rooms are available to guests at this time.
"You don't want to open a hotel in June," said Whitaker of National Real Estate Advisors. "Being open at only partial capacity for the first couple weeks is not a big deal. It's important that we are catching the last half of the spring season."
Grand-opening memories
On Thursday morning, a red ribbon on the entryway to the hotel was cut, symbolizing the end of one phase and the beginning of the hotel's public life.
The Westin's employees stood on a walkway leading to the second-story pool deck as Barton, city officials and other dignitaries marked the day.
"The exciting thing for me is when I'm at home and I look at the hotel, and there are lights on in the windows," Hill, of housekeeping, said. "I know I was a part of that."
by Megan Neighbor The Arizona Republic Mar. 13, 2011 12:00 AM
Westin quickly opens in Phoenix office space left empty in downturn
Westin quickly opens in Phoenix office space left empty in downturn
In sprawling Phoenix, the idea of a high-end hotel being crafted into the shell of a vacant new office building is notable. Even more intriguing is when it's done by an ownership group at lightning speed at the tail end of a devastating recession.
The development of the Westin Phoenix Downtown came as a welcome surprise, several years after construction plans for One Central Park East took shape.
The hotel, which opened Thursday, brings another option for visitors and a boost for downtown.
It wasn't meant to end like this. One Central Park East was designed and built to offer Class A office space. Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. occupies the top floors and has its name on the building. But seismic shifts in the economy brought office-vacancy rates to a peak. The building's ownership group, the National Electrical Benefit Plan, had to switch gears.
The idea of a hotel was first floated in June 2009, six months before construction on the 26-story skyscraper was completed. A study conducted by PKF Consulting validated the ownership group's idea: A hotel would be lucrative, especially if it catered to an underserved niche market - independent business travelers.
The study proposed a number of brands for the hotel, including Marriott, Kimpton and Westin. The owners selected Westin, and a deal was struck in spring 2010.
"In 2009, at the depths of the recession, we were coming to them (the Westin) with a shell building that was already in place and the financing to build out the hotel," said Ryan Whitaker, director of equity investments for National Real Estate Advisors, which manages investments for the National Electrical Benefit Fund.
"We were, so to speak, the prettiest girl at the dance."
In August, Perini Building Co., the general contractor hired to build out the hotel, began to transform the space. On the building's first floor are lobbies for each of the building's tenants, followed by nine floors of parking. The Westin sits on floors 11 through 18.
A hotel was born in seven months, with a budget of about $40 million.
"This has been a very short project," said Debra Barton, the hotel's general manager, who started on the job in July. "Typically, this type of project takes about 24 months, but we did this in about 12."
Suppliers and subcontractors pitched in, and the Westin management team grew. Soon, opening day loomed. In the two weeks before the first guest signed in, the hotel's new employees worked to put the finishing touches on the property, train their jobs and learn what it meant to provide Westin service. Each of them already has made a mark on the culture of the hotel.
Seven-month crunch
On Feb. 24, the Westin launched its employee-training program.
The lobby and hotel floors were still a hive of construction activity, with nearly 200 subcontractors on the premises.
The steady buzz of construction began in August and continued until Wednesday, the day before the hotel's grand opening.
Last summer, the eight floors that would become the Westin's meeting space and guest rooms were void of walls, flooring and plumbing infrastructure that could accommodate bathrooms for individual guest rooms.
Each floor looked like a vacant warehouse, spanning from glass wall to glass wall.
Even the air-conditioning ducts had to be revised to accommodate individual guest rooms, said Ken Schacherbauer, vice president of operations for Perini.
"It's been a really complex project because of the time frame and because we had to work in an existing and operating building without disturbing its tenant, Freeport-McMoRan," Schacherbauer said.
Altering the building to accommodate a hotel meant putting up walls and adding all the basic amenities, such as bathtubs, showers and sink fixtures.
Extensive construction also had to be completed on the first floor. The western side of the building was extended outward, making room for the hotel's entryway on Central Avenue, signature restaurant Province's indoor and outdoor seating, and a second-story pool. Part of what was Freeport-McMoRan's lobby was partitioned off to become the new Westin's lobby.
Down a hallway and past a library sitting area, a new elevator bank for the hotel's customers was built, keeping the building's two tenants separate.
On Feb. 24, Perini's contractors worked feverishly to finish the lobby, restaurant and outdoor area. Chandeliers had yet to be hung, the wall's vinyl had yet to be applied, an outdoor staircase that led to the pool deck had yet to be completed and the reception agents' desks had yet to be placed.
The hotel was set to open in two weeks.
Training begins
That morning, Paula Muñoz Chavez woke up for the first time in one of the hotel's rooms.
It had not yet opened to the public, but Chavez, 24 and from Mexico City, had been given permission by her new employer to stay in one of the 242 guest rooms while she searched for an apartment. She would live in the hotel for two weeks.
Muñoz Chavez was one of 145 employees chosen to work at the new Westin. The hotel received more than 7,500 applications.
She works in the kitchen, preparing cold-food items. Eventually, she will prepare hot entrees for Province customers, in-room diners and poolside guests.
Her passion has always been cooking and traveling, she said.
Just one day before her flight to Phoenix, Muñoz Chavez received her work visa. She began her new job a day after arriving in the Valley.
"My transition has been very fast, very busy," Muñoz Chavez said on Feb. 28. "I'm living in the hotel right now - kind of the Monopoly lifestyle."
Long hours
On the same day, Lemuel Hill jotted notes in a little black notebook, reminders of areas he needed to tidy.
Hill is one the new Westin's housekeeping employees. While Perini's contractors would clean up after themselves, construction in the building meant the constant presence of dust, he said.
"I really believe in this place," Hill said. "I really believe it will succeed. I want to ensure it's as clean as possible for the guests who are arriving soon."
Before the opening, Hill worked long hours, tidying up the hallways and rooms.
So did the so-called road warriors, such as Timothy Swanson, project manager at Kane Hospitality Services, and Kevin Lawrence, operations project manager at Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Westin's parent company. Both men moved to the city for a short while to aid the hotel in opening.
Lawrence led the team that ensured the hotel's supplies - such as pillows, towels and coffeepots - arrived on time. Although he didn't create the budget for fixtures, furniture and equipment - the building owner's role - he did budget for the hotel's operating supplies and equipment.
"If you shook the hotel, everything that falls out, I buy," Lawrence said.
Swanson was responsible for the shipment of all furniture and supplies. But the structure of the building - which only has one dock and one service elevator that is shared with Freeport-McMoRan - prevented scheduling of shipments during daytime hours. From December to March, Swanson scheduled about 140 nighttime hotel shipments and was there to accept them.
In the last weeks before the hotel's grand opening, the hotel received as many as three truckloads of furniture and "pick and packs." They contain all the room's miscellaneous items, such as towels, pillows and hangers, in individual boxes.
"The pick and packs mean that we aren't running through the hallways throwing items into rooms just before opening like we used to," Lawrence said, laughing.
Finishing touches
On Monday, three days before the hotel's grand opening, the hotel's outdoor and entry areas were coming together.
Province's outside patio was landscaped, and the lobby's reception desks were in place. Vinyl had been applied to walls, and all the flooring was installed.
Inside, Chloe Woods, one of the hotel's reception agents, was practicing via live simulations.
"I have you down for a one-night stay, is that correct?" Woods recited.
With employees and Starwood executives arriving daily, the crunch to put rooms "in service" was felt on floors 11 through 18.
When Perini's contractors finished a floor, a project manager and an engineer, both affiliated with Starwood, inspected each room and either accepted it as is or accepted it with conditions. A "punch list" was then provided to the general contractor detailing any defects in the rooms.
Rooms with defects generally are kept out of the hotel's inventory until they're fixed, said Barton, the hotel general manager.
By the grand opening, floors 11 through 15 had been accepted by hotel management. Floor 16 likely will be accepted late this week, and floors 17 and 18 by the end of the March, Barton said.
Although not all floors have been accepted, construction is finished and the hotel has received its certificate of occupancy. Rooms still must be outfitted on the upper floors.
That means about one-half of the hotel's 242 rooms are available to guests at this time.
"You don't want to open a hotel in June," said Whitaker of National Real Estate Advisors. "Being open at only partial capacity for the first couple weeks is not a big deal. It's important that we are catching the last half of the spring season."
Grand-opening memories
On Thursday morning, a red ribbon on the entryway to the hotel was cut, symbolizing the end of one phase and the beginning of the hotel's public life.
The Westin's employees stood on a walkway leading to the second-story pool deck as Barton, city officials and other dignitaries marked the day.
"The exciting thing for me is when I'm at home and I look at the hotel, and there are lights on in the windows," Hill, of housekeeping, said. "I know I was a part of that."
by Megan Neighbor The Arizona Republic Mar. 13, 2011 12:00 AM
Westin quickly opens in Phoenix office space left empty in downturn
The development of the Westin Phoenix Downtown came as a welcome surprise, several years after construction plans for One Central Park East took shape.
The hotel, which opened Thursday, brings another option for visitors and a boost for downtown.
It wasn't meant to end like this. One Central Park East was designed and built to offer Class A office space. Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. occupies the top floors and has its name on the building. But seismic shifts in the economy brought office-vacancy rates to a peak. The building's ownership group, the National Electrical Benefit Plan, had to switch gears.
The idea of a hotel was first floated in June 2009, six months before construction on the 26-story skyscraper was completed. A study conducted by PKF Consulting validated the ownership group's idea: A hotel would be lucrative, especially if it catered to an underserved niche market - independent business travelers.
The study proposed a number of brands for the hotel, including Marriott, Kimpton and Westin. The owners selected Westin, and a deal was struck in spring 2010.
"In 2009, at the depths of the recession, we were coming to them (the Westin) with a shell building that was already in place and the financing to build out the hotel," said Ryan Whitaker, director of equity investments for National Real Estate Advisors, which manages investments for the National Electrical Benefit Fund.
"We were, so to speak, the prettiest girl at the dance."
In August, Perini Building Co., the general contractor hired to build out the hotel, began to transform the space. On the building's first floor are lobbies for each of the building's tenants, followed by nine floors of parking. The Westin sits on floors 11 through 18.
A hotel was born in seven months, with a budget of about $40 million.
"This has been a very short project," said Debra Barton, the hotel's general manager, who started on the job in July. "Typically, this type of project takes about 24 months, but we did this in about 12."
Suppliers and subcontractors pitched in, and the Westin management team grew. Soon, opening day loomed. In the two weeks before the first guest signed in, the hotel's new employees worked to put the finishing touches on the property, train their jobs and learn what it meant to provide Westin service. Each of them already has made a mark on the culture of the hotel.
Seven-month crunch
On Feb. 24, the Westin launched its employee-training program.
The lobby and hotel floors were still a hive of construction activity, with nearly 200 subcontractors on the premises.
The steady buzz of construction began in August and continued until Wednesday, the day before the hotel's grand opening.
Last summer, the eight floors that would become the Westin's meeting space and guest rooms were void of walls, flooring and plumbing infrastructure that could accommodate bathrooms for individual guest rooms.
Each floor looked like a vacant warehouse, spanning from glass wall to glass wall.
Even the air-conditioning ducts had to be revised to accommodate individual guest rooms, said Ken Schacherbauer, vice president of operations for Perini.
"It's been a really complex project because of the time frame and because we had to work in an existing and operating building without disturbing its tenant, Freeport-McMoRan," Schacherbauer said.
Altering the building to accommodate a hotel meant putting up walls and adding all the basic amenities, such as bathtubs, showers and sink fixtures.
Extensive construction also had to be completed on the first floor. The western side of the building was extended outward, making room for the hotel's entryway on Central Avenue, signature restaurant Province's indoor and outdoor seating, and a second-story pool. Part of what was Freeport-McMoRan's lobby was partitioned off to become the new Westin's lobby.
Down a hallway and past a library sitting area, a new elevator bank for the hotel's customers was built, keeping the building's two tenants separate.
On Feb. 24, Perini's contractors worked feverishly to finish the lobby, restaurant and outdoor area. Chandeliers had yet to be hung, the wall's vinyl had yet to be applied, an outdoor staircase that led to the pool deck had yet to be completed and the reception agents' desks had yet to be placed.
The hotel was set to open in two weeks.
Training begins
That morning, Paula Muñoz Chavez woke up for the first time in one of the hotel's rooms.
It had not yet opened to the public, but Chavez, 24 and from Mexico City, had been given permission by her new employer to stay in one of the 242 guest rooms while she searched for an apartment. She would live in the hotel for two weeks.
Muñoz Chavez was one of 145 employees chosen to work at the new Westin. The hotel received more than 7,500 applications.
She works in the kitchen, preparing cold-food items. Eventually, she will prepare hot entrees for Province customers, in-room diners and poolside guests.
Her passion has always been cooking and traveling, she said.
Just one day before her flight to Phoenix, Muñoz Chavez received her work visa. She began her new job a day after arriving in the Valley.
"My transition has been very fast, very busy," Muñoz Chavez said on Feb. 28. "I'm living in the hotel right now - kind of the Monopoly lifestyle."
Long hours
On the same day, Lemuel Hill jotted notes in a little black notebook, reminders of areas he needed to tidy.
Hill is one the new Westin's housekeeping employees. While Perini's contractors would clean up after themselves, construction in the building meant the constant presence of dust, he said.
"I really believe in this place," Hill said. "I really believe it will succeed. I want to ensure it's as clean as possible for the guests who are arriving soon."
Before the opening, Hill worked long hours, tidying up the hallways and rooms.
So did the so-called road warriors, such as Timothy Swanson, project manager at Kane Hospitality Services, and Kevin Lawrence, operations project manager at Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Westin's parent company. Both men moved to the city for a short while to aid the hotel in opening.
Lawrence led the team that ensured the hotel's supplies - such as pillows, towels and coffeepots - arrived on time. Although he didn't create the budget for fixtures, furniture and equipment - the building owner's role - he did budget for the hotel's operating supplies and equipment.
"If you shook the hotel, everything that falls out, I buy," Lawrence said.
Swanson was responsible for the shipment of all furniture and supplies. But the structure of the building - which only has one dock and one service elevator that is shared with Freeport-McMoRan - prevented scheduling of shipments during daytime hours. From December to March, Swanson scheduled about 140 nighttime hotel shipments and was there to accept them.
In the last weeks before the hotel's grand opening, the hotel received as many as three truckloads of furniture and "pick and packs." They contain all the room's miscellaneous items, such as towels, pillows and hangers, in individual boxes.
"The pick and packs mean that we aren't running through the hallways throwing items into rooms just before opening like we used to," Lawrence said, laughing.
Finishing touches
On Monday, three days before the hotel's grand opening, the hotel's outdoor and entry areas were coming together.
Province's outside patio was landscaped, and the lobby's reception desks were in place. Vinyl had been applied to walls, and all the flooring was installed.
Inside, Chloe Woods, one of the hotel's reception agents, was practicing via live simulations.
"I have you down for a one-night stay, is that correct?" Woods recited.
With employees and Starwood executives arriving daily, the crunch to put rooms "in service" was felt on floors 11 through 18.
When Perini's contractors finished a floor, a project manager and an engineer, both affiliated with Starwood, inspected each room and either accepted it as is or accepted it with conditions. A "punch list" was then provided to the general contractor detailing any defects in the rooms.
Rooms with defects generally are kept out of the hotel's inventory until they're fixed, said Barton, the hotel general manager.
By the grand opening, floors 11 through 15 had been accepted by hotel management. Floor 16 likely will be accepted late this week, and floors 17 and 18 by the end of the March, Barton said.
Although not all floors have been accepted, construction is finished and the hotel has received its certificate of occupancy. Rooms still must be outfitted on the upper floors.
That means about one-half of the hotel's 242 rooms are available to guests at this time.
"You don't want to open a hotel in June," said Whitaker of National Real Estate Advisors. "Being open at only partial capacity for the first couple weeks is not a big deal. It's important that we are catching the last half of the spring season."
Grand-opening memories
On Thursday morning, a red ribbon on the entryway to the hotel was cut, symbolizing the end of one phase and the beginning of the hotel's public life.
The Westin's employees stood on a walkway leading to the second-story pool deck as Barton, city officials and other dignitaries marked the day.
"The exciting thing for me is when I'm at home and I look at the hotel, and there are lights on in the windows," Hill, of housekeeping, said. "I know I was a part of that."
by Megan Neighbor The Arizona Republic Mar. 13, 2011 12:00 AM
Westin quickly opens in Phoenix office space left empty in downturn
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