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  #781  
Old Posted Sep 12, 2008, 4:56 PM
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/\ It's about a block north of Thomas Road on the west side of Central.
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  #782  
Old Posted Sep 12, 2008, 5:07 PM
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Century Plaza - 3225 North Central - 200' - 15 floors - 1975 - 236,164 SF (photo 2001)


Bank of America - 3030 North Central - 188' - 14 floors - 1975 - 269,847 SF (photo 2001)


There are lots of these 'black' buildings all over the place. Mies did Seagram, Wallace K. Harrison, Phillip Johnson, Emory Roth (his sons), and Myron Goldsmith ran with it and there you have it. Very few are even remotely as interesting as the original.
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  #783  
Old Posted Sep 15, 2008, 4:59 AM
PHX NATIVE 929 PHX NATIVE 929 is offline
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Friday, September 12, 2008
Sheraton Phoenix Downtown poised for Sept. 30 opening after years of planning, preparationPhoenix Business Journal - by Lynn Ducey Phoenix Business Journal

The Sheraton Phoenix Downtown won't open for another two weeks, but crews have been working for months to get the state's largest hotel up and running.

As director of sales and marketing, Steve Spivak has overseen work on the 32-floor, 1,000-room behemoth, which anchors the corner of Van Buren and Third streets in Copper Square.

"When I got here, I was employee No. 1. They were just excavating the site," Spivak said.

That was in March 2006. Since then, hundreds of construction workers have fashioned steel and rebar into the latest addition to Phoenix's skyline.

While the number of construction workers at the site has declined from a peak of 600, the few weeks prior to the hotel's grand opening have more than two dozen workers finishing tiling, lighting and stone fountain work in the restaurant and main lobby.

Getting a hotel of the Sheraton's magnitude ready for guests is a huge job. Dawn Flynn, operations project manager, has been working for months to outfit the hotel from top to bottom. To handle the task, she has taken over the 29,000-square-foot Phoenix Ballroom, which occupies most of the hotel's third floor.

On a recent day, Flynn sat behind a card table with a laptop computer and printer and held court over the ballroom -- which was, at that point, filled with hundreds of chairs.

"We've got dozens of deliveries coming by truck every day. It has to be checked in, it has to be accounted for, and it has to be deployed," she said.

Running the show
Flynn is employed by Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide Inc., which manages the Sheraton. She travels across the country outfitting new properties.

"If you took the hotel and turned it upside down, I am responsible for everything that falls out," she said. "Operating supplies and equipment, that's my life."

Using a sophisticated inventory system, she uses her laptop to pull raw inventory from two off-site Phoenix warehouses and have it delivered to the ballroom. From there, the material is sorted and deployed to guest rooms, kitchens and every other nook and cranny of the hotel.

The Sheraton is owned by the city of Phoenix through its self-created Downtown Phoenix Hotel Corp. Construction of the hotel was financed through $350 million in municipal bonds.

Starwood is based in White Plains, N.Y., and manages hotel flags including Sheraton, Westin, W and Le Meridien worldwide. The company also has a strong local presence, managing properties including the Wigwam Golf Resort & Spa, the Westin Kierland Resort and Spa, the Sheraton Wild Horse Pass, The Phoenician Resort and the newly opened W Scottsdale.

"Whatever Starwood does is really successful. Anything they do is golden," said Rich Moss, president of Mastel Linen Co. and Mastel Dry Cleaning and Laundry, two family-owned companies based in the Valley.

Mastel holds Starwood's contract for dry cleaning services. That means the company will handle dry cleaning not only for the hotel, but also for its guests. Moss expects his crews to make at least three daily trips to the property to pick up and drop off clothing and uniforms.

"This will be my biggest contract by far. This is really the No. 1 company to get as a client," he said.

Getting the hotel's business took some effort. Moss said he and his team worked for months on a proposal and presentation. They met with executives and made a proposal not only for the dry cleaning portion of the hotel's business, but also for the linen and laundry contract. While Mastel was rewarded with the dry cleaning work, Phoenix-based Specialty Textile Services got the laundry contract.

Tourism boost
Moss said the new Sheraton will make a significant contribution to the Valley's economic engine.

"A hotel of that magnitude and size is going to bring in a tremendous amount of business. This is really going to be huge," he said.

Those in the hospitality and tourism industry agree. The hotel was built in tandem with the $600 million expansion of the Phoenix Convention Center.

That project includes the Convention Center's new west building, with its iconic 90-foot mirror sculpted by Louise Bourgeois, as well as a huge north building. Expected to be finished in January, the north building will add 635,000 square feet of meeting space to the facility.

Industry analyst Robert Hayward of Phoenix-based Warnick and Co. said the Convention Center upgrade and the new hotel will help Phoenix compete with first-tier cities for large convention business.

Doug MacKenzie, director of communications for the Greater Phoenix Convention & Visitors Bureau, said two national groups have booked conventions for the first month the north building opens. The Cattlemen's Beef Association and Mary Kay Cosmetics both will meet there in January.

"These are huge national conventions, and that market is certainly going to expand for us," MacKenzie said.

Such business is possible because the hotel and convention center will operate in tandem, with each complementing the other, Hayward said.

Hayward's firm is the asset manager and acts as liaison between Phoenix and Starwood for the hotel, he said.

Brent DeRaad, executive vice president of the Scottsdale Convention & Visitors Bureau, said the downtown Phoenix hotel will pay off for tourism venues across the Valley.

"This will really bring in groups that have never before considered the Valley. We feel once we get customers here, we have an opportunity for spin-off business," he said.

Get Connected
Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide Inc.: www.starwoodhotels.com

Warnick and Co.: www.warnickco.com
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  #784  
Old Posted Sep 29, 2008, 3:51 AM
Azndragon837 Azndragon837 is offline
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So does anyone know when the PUBLIC is invited for a possible tour? Or is the October 1st grand opening THE event for the public?

I can also simply just go inside and check out the interior a few days after the opening. The interior is AMAZING!!! I took a run around downtown a few nights ago and jogged past the hotel lobby - holy shit! $300 million indeed. They pretty much scrapped amazing architecture and used all of the dollars to create the amazing interior. The elevator lobby is just stunning - with the wood panels going up to the ceiling, and the accent lighting is fantastic.

I cannot attend the October 1st grand opening, I will be at work. I may take up on Andrew's offer to check out the restaurant.

-Andrew

Last edited by Azndragon837; Sep 29, 2008 at 7:03 AM.
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  #785  
Old Posted Sep 29, 2008, 4:53 AM
gymratmanaz gymratmanaz is offline
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Yesterday, I kinda walked right in. I looked like I knew what I was doing. Checked out the whole place, even up to the 25th floor. I tell you, it is amazing. I love the interiors. This is a class act!!!!! We have a crappy exterior, but a beautiful interior!!!!!!
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  #786  
Old Posted Sep 29, 2008, 5:30 AM
HX_Guy HX_Guy is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Azndragon837 View Post
So does anyone know when the PUBLIC is invited for a possible tour? Or is the October 1st grand opening THE event for the public?
I don't know if any tour is included but...

Quote:
NOTICE OF PUBLIC EVENT
GRAND OPENING EVENT
SHERATON PHOENIX DOWNTOWN HOTEL




a GRAND OPENING EVENT will be held on October 1, 2008 at 10:00 a.m. located at the Sheraton Phoenix Downtown Hotel, 340 N. 3rd Street, Phoenix, Arizona 85004.



A quorum of the phoenix city council may be present. This is an event only and not a meeting. No City business will be conducted nor any action taken. This event is open to the public.
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  #787  
Old Posted Sep 29, 2008, 7:04 AM
Azndragon837 Azndragon837 is offline
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AZCentral has a slideshow up with some cool photos of the interior.

http://www.azcentral.com/commphotos/azcentral/8033/1/18

-Andrew
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  #788  
Old Posted Sep 29, 2008, 3:56 PM
Vicelord John Vicelord John is offline
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FYI if anyone wants to be one of the first to stay in the hotel, its 101 bucks tonight if you make your reservation today.
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  #789  
Old Posted Sep 30, 2008, 3:05 AM
Vicelord John Vicelord John is offline
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so tonight leaving work I thought hey I'll stop by district on the way home and check that out. I get down here and realize they are definitely not having the soft opening I thought they were but the guest service manager says come in anyway, you can send us business later to make up for it. They are doing simulations with their employees for practice. So I'm the only non Sheraton employee here and the first of the general public to eat here I am being told.

This place is a-freaking-mazing. It's beautiful, the drinks are all microbrew/local/organic, and the food is terriffic. You ALL should check the place out. The po' boy shrimp sliders are the shit.
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  #790  
Old Posted Sep 30, 2008, 5:10 AM
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/\ Cool, but what are the prices like? 7 bucks for a microbrew isn't that great, especially when The Roosevelt is just up the street.
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  #791  
Old Posted Sep 30, 2008, 6:08 AM
HX_Guy HX_Guy is offline
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So what happened to the whole mesh roof thing that was supposed to glow? Has that happened...or was it scrapped? (Haven't seen the Sheraton at night in a while)
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  #792  
Old Posted Sep 30, 2008, 6:08 AM
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Try 3.75 for a microbrew!!!
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  #793  
Old Posted Sep 30, 2008, 6:31 AM
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The mesh roof was canceled. It was a design flaw that had something to do with the mechanical access.
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  #794  
Old Posted Sep 30, 2008, 5:02 PM
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^The design flaw seems to be that you can see the mechanical equipment on the roof. Somebody at Arquitectonica didn't account for it in their original designs and the parapet ended up being put in the 'wrong' place. That's the design flaw! I hate when architects don't pay attention to ALL of the disciplines involved.
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  #795  
Old Posted Oct 1, 2008, 6:14 AM
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That's terrible, I'm guessing it won't ever be fixed or covered up as well.
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  #796  
Old Posted Oct 2, 2008, 1:18 AM
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Shame on them!!!
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  #797  
Old Posted Oct 2, 2008, 3:52 PM
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  #798  
Old Posted Oct 2, 2008, 4:45 PM
gymratmanaz gymratmanaz is offline
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I CAN'T WAIT TO TRY IT OUT NOW! That is exciting news about the restaurant. So far, all good things about the Sheraton...other than the exterior.
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  #799  
Old Posted Dec 9, 2009, 6:50 PM
Vicelord John Vicelord John is offline
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didn't this building have those metal fins on the north side of the building as well as the south?

The north side of the building is bare... I swore they were up before but I don't think they would have taken them down. Am I imagining things?
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  #800  
Old Posted Dec 9, 2009, 8:01 PM
gymratmanaz gymratmanaz is offline
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YES. Never had em. Never will.
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