111-Room Hotel Planned for Tempe

By Tasha Anderson for AZBEX 
A new Residence Inn hotel is being proposed on 2.37 acres of the Agave Development in the Southwest District Overlay of Tempe. 
Applicant and civil engineer, Sustainability Engineering Group, LLC, on behalf of the owner The Barclay Group is requesting a use permit to allow a hotel in the General Industrial Zoning District, another use permit to increase the maximum building height for the hotel from 60 feet to 63 feet, and approval of the site plan, building elevations and landscape plan. 
To be called the Residence Inn Tempe, the project is proposed as a five-story, 111-room hotel at the SWC of Ranch Road and Harl Avenue. The maximum building height will be about 62 feet and the total building area will be approximately 80.1KSF. 
“The buildings design is intended to conform with the surrounding industrial/office theme,” the project documents state. “Unlike typical office buildings that are predominately glass at the exterior, the proposed hotel is designed with a diverse set of building materials that will help to reduce unnecessary reflection while accommodating a diverse color palette of darker brown hues.” The materials include stucco, stone veneer, dark bronze anodized aluminum, exterior insulation finishes and more. 
Guests can enjoy hotel amenities such as a gym, pool and tennis court and will be provided a walkway on the west side of the property that will connect them to the neighboring EOS fitness facility. 
The hotel will share a driveway entrance with the EOS Fitness to the west and will also have shared driveways to the north at west Ranch Road and to the south at west Greentree Drive. A total of 112 parking spaces will be provided for the development. 
According to the documents, “Upon entering the side, a cantilevered port cochere provides a shaded place for guests to park, check in and unload before parking.” 
The project was heard at the City of Tempe’s Development Review Commission meeting on September 22nd. It still needs to go before Tempe’s City Council.