Plan to create 700 hotel rooms downtown draws from 3 proposals
by Teya Vitu on Nov. 08, 2007, under Local
A Sheraton tower next to the TCC would be a second-phase project.
The selection committee for a new 700-room downtown hotel patched together pieces from three developer proposals to create a multiphase, $267 million project to support the Tucson Convention Center.
The first step would be renovating the existing 309-room Hotel Arizona as a Hilton, which was part of the proposal by Tucson-based Centro Nuevo Partners and Phelps Development of Greeley, Colo.
The city would use $70 million in hotel revenue bonds to buy the hotel from Humberto S. Lopez for $28 million and spend $42 million to renovate it.
That partially meets the desire of downtown merchant and neighborhood groups, which heartily endorsed the Hilton proposal.
The committee, however, favored a second step in a 707-room Sheraton nearly attached to TCC, as proposed by Garfield Traub Development of Dallas. That $180 million project would be built after the Hotel Arizona renovation, said Jaret Barr, assistant to the city manager.
The third phase, if conditions warrant it, would be a 28-story Hilton tower adjacent to Hotel Arizona. That is not included in the $267 million price tag.
The City Council, which will consider the proposals Nov. 20, can choose whichever proposal it wants.
The selection committee included Kendall Bert of Tucson Regional Economic Opportunities, Jonathan Walker of the Metropolitan Tucson Convention & Visitors Bureau, Chris Sheafe of the Rio Nuevo Citizens Advisory Committee, Karen Valdez of the Business Development Finance Corp. and downtown developer Randi Dorman.
The committee rejected the 10-story Marriott proposal with only 300 hotel rooms by Allan Norville’s Nor-Generations. But the panel recommends buying Norville’s 7 acres behind the federal courthouse for $17 million.
Norville partner Devcon International would be the master developer of all these projects, Barr said.
The only proposal to strike out entirely was FaulknerUSA/Southwest Value Partners’ plan to build a Hyatt on the site of the Tucson Arena.
“What we were able to accomplish was to get the right people to fully develop the site as needed,” Barr said.
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TRASOFF ON THE DECISION
Statement from Councilmember Nina Trasoff, who chairs the council’s Rio Nuevo Subcommittee:
“Staff have worked diligently to review the final proposals for our convention hotel. The recommendation they will forward to Council demonstrates outstanding creativity in combining the best elements of each proposal into one dynamic plan that will serve as a landmark for our evolving downtown, providing a vision for our community’s future.
“I believe this creativity and vision should be extended to environmental concerns as well. While there is already a solid commitment that the hotels and arena will be built to LEED Silver standards, I encourage staff to set the bar higher. The goal for these 58 acres should be a carbon-neutral development.
“This will be a challenge. But I believe we can set a standard for our community, our state and our nation by bringing every available tool to bear to achieve as close to a net zero carbon footprint as possible.
“Each member of the continuing Mayor & Council has spoken about the importance of sustainability in our community. Each of us has taken the lead on some aspect of the ‘greening’ of Tucson. If ever there were a time to combine these efforts into one unified action, this is it.”
