A $20 million Starwood loft-style hotel may be coming to downtown Phoenix.

Copper Pointe 2 Development LLP is finalizing an agreement that could put a 107-room boutique hotel on a vacant city lot on the southeastern corner of Central Avenue and Adams Street.

The deal is scheduled to go before the City Council on March 19,said John Chan, downtown development director.

The proposed hotel would be part of Starwood's aloft brand and would have a flag with that name, a concept similar to the chain's W brand, Chan said.

The project's ground-level shops could include a drugstore, an amenity missing from downtown since the late 1980s, Chan said.

"Over the past 10 years, we have looked at a number of development proposals," he said. "A hotel is the highest and best use of the property given its proximity to light rail."

The project is another sign of the soft downtown condominium market.

In 2006, the city wanted to put condos on the site. The city tapped a developer, but the project fell through because the developer couldn't get financing, according to a city report.

In 2007, Copper Pointe 2 Development made a pitch for the boutique hotel.

The Copper Pointe deal hinges on a successful pact with Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. Under the terms of the agreement, the developer will build the hotel and commit to a 20-year lease with the city. The deal includes an eight-year tax excise abatement worth $332,000. After the 20-year lease, the developer would own the hotel, city officials say.In exchange for hotel development rights, Copper Pointe will give Phoenix a 28,000-square-foot land parcel near Third Avenue and Fillmore Street, city documents show.

Copper Pointe 2 Development LLP is a partnership between Scottsdale-based Belleview Communities and Pointe of View, a Canadian developer, said Dave MacKenzie, vice president of development for Pointe of View.

MacKenzie would say little about the project because negotiations with Starwood are still underway.

Construction could begin as early as the end of the year, MacKenzie said.


Author: Jahna Berry
Source: The Arizona Republic