By BEX Staff for AZBEX
As the once-stalled City North development near Desert Ridge in north Phoenix continues regaining momentum, a formerly canceled dual-branded hotel development is now back in the planning sphere.
Overall development at the 100-acre City North master-planned site was struggling before Crown Realty and Development acquired it in early 2019, and then progress was waylaid by the pandemic and other issues.
After acquiring City North in Jan. 2019, Crown spent nearly two years and $20M to develop the site’s infrastructure to prepare it as a mixed-use destination for hotels, office, multifamily, hospitality and other uses. Several projects have since entered the planning and construction pipeline.
Discussions of a dual-branded hotel date back to at least early 2020 and were originally expected to be delivered by July of that year. The City North Dual-Brand Hotel & Retail project was officially listed as canceled in the DATABEX project database in March 2023 after confirmation by a contractor associated with the project.
Now, however, local news outlets report a dual-branded hotel is once again planned on the east side of the site. The 240-room AC Hotel by Marriott and Element Hotel by Westin will be developed by LaPour Partners and Holualoa Companies. The new hotel will also include 5.5KSF of meeting space. RSP Architects is the design firm.
Groundbreaking is expected in summer 2025, with delivery in early 2027.
Crown is also working to develop a small mixed-use retail, office and hospitality location nearby. No tenant names have been released.
