SAN FRANCISCO—Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants announced today it has been selected to manage a new, luxury boutique hotel in Tempe, Ariz. The 237-room, new build hotel is part of One|Hundred|Mill, a major, mixed-use development scheduled to break ground in November of this year.
The Tempe hotel announcement signifies ongoing growth momentum for Kimpton in the Southwest and beyond, as it continues its rapid expansion track across the U.S. Year to date alone, Kimpton has announced six new management contracts and added hotels to the brand portfolio in Seattle, Pittsburgh, Huntington Beach, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C., with two more slated to open before year’s end in Austin and Vermont. The Tempe property also deepens the brand’s already significant presence in Arizona, which boasts popular hotels in Phoenix, Scottsdale, and Sedona.
With a targeted opening date of late 2017, the new luxury boutique hotel and surrounding retail and office high-rise development, owned in a joint venture by San Diego-based Douglas Wilson Companies and Hensel Phelps Development, will be located at the corner of Mill Avenue and Rio Salado Parkway, which is considered the gateway to downtown Tempe. Once completed, the Tempe Kimpton will feature 237 guest rooms, 12,000 square feet of indoor meeting space and a 4,750-square-foot rooftop pool and terrace lounge, along with a fitness center and a full service, Kimpton-managed restaurant and bar venue.
Located in the greater Phoenix metropolitan area and home to the largest public university in the U.S., Arizona State University, Tempe is considered the technology center of Arizona with major Fortune-500 companies operating facilities in the city, including Microsoft, Go Daddy, Monster.com, and Limelight Networks.
“The Tempe market is in a major, sustained cycle of new development with increases in the employment base and a thriving economy like many Kimpton markets. This project has the advantage of being mixed-use, offering the office tenants adjoining access to a totally unique hotel and restaurant experience with a world-class roof-top pool and lounge,” explained Kimpton Chief Executive Officer Mike DeFrino. “Douglas Wilson Companies and Hensel Phelps have secured a superb location in the Tempe market that benefits directly from impressive ASU enrollment increases and campus growth, an expanding office market, and the educated nearby population. We see a tremendous opportunity to bring Tempe its first modern, luxury boutique hotel experience,” he said.
While this is its first partnership with Kimpton, developer Douglas Wilson Cos. has developed similar scale mixed use projects, including preservation of a historic Fox Theater in San Diego as part of its Symphony Towers project. The company brought in its long-time architecture firm, Denver-based Shear Adkins Rockmore Architects.
“We’re excited to be partnering with Kimpton on this project, given the brand’s impressive track record in nearby Phoenix, Scottsdale, and beyond for delivering outstanding, authentic customer experiences and offering a fantastic workplace culture for employees, not to mention the success the brand has had in anchoring mixed-use developments with their truly unique boutique experiences,” said Douglas Wilson, chairman and chief executive officer of Douglas Wilson Cos.
