Westin quickly opens in Phoenix office space left empty in downturn

In sprawling Phoenix, the idea of a high-end hotel being crafted into the shell of a vacant new office building is notable. Even more intriguing is when it's done by an ownership group at lightning speed at the tail end of a devastating recession.

The development of the Westin Phoenix Downtown came as a welcome surprise, several years after construction plans for One Central Park East took shape.

The hotel, which opened Thursday, brings another option for visitors and a boost for downtown.


It wasn't meant to end like this. One Central Park East was designed and built to offer Class A office space. Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. occupies the top floors and has its name on the building. But seismic shifts in the economy brought office-vacancy rates to a peak. The building's ownership group, the National Electrical Benefit Plan, had to switch gears.

The idea of a hotel was first floated in June 2009, six months before construction on the 26-story skyscraper was completed. A study conducted by PKF Consulting validated the ownership group's idea: A hotel would be lucrative, especially if it catered to an underserved niche market - independent business travelers.

The study proposed a number of brands for the hotel, including Marriott, Kimpton and Westin. The owners selected Westin, and a deal was struck in spring 2010.

"In 2009, at the depths of the recession, we were coming to them (the Westin) with a shell building that was already in place and the financing to build out the hotel," said Ryan Whitaker, director of equity investments for National Real Estate Advisors, which manages investments for the National Electrical Benefit Fund.

"We were, so to speak, the prettiest girl at the dance."

In August, Perini Building Co., the general contractor hired to build out the hotel, began to transform the space. On the building's first floor are lobbies for each of the building's tenants, followed by nine floors of parking. The Westin sits on floors 11 through 18.

A hotel was born in seven months, with a budget of about $40 million.

"This has been a very short project," said Debra Barton, the hotel's general manager, who started on the job in July. "Typically, this type of project takes about 24 months, but we did this in about 12."

Suppliers and subcontractors pitched in, and the Westin management team grew. Soon, opening day loomed. In the two weeks before the first guest signed in, the hotel's new employees worked to put the finishing touches on the property, train their jobs and learn what it meant to provide Westin service. Each of them already has made a mark on the culture of the hotel.

Seven-month crunch

On Feb. 24, the Westin launched its employee-training program.

The lobby and hotel floors were still a hive of construction activity, with nearly 200 subcontractors on the premises.

The steady buzz of construction began in August and continued until Wednesday, the day before the hotel's grand opening.

Last summer, the eight floors that would become the Westin's meeting space and guest rooms were void of walls, flooring and plumbing infrastructure that could accommodate bathrooms for individual guest rooms.

Each floor looked like a vacant warehouse, spanning from glass wall to glass wall.

Even the air-conditioning ducts had to be revised to accommodate individual guest rooms, said Ken Schacherbauer, vice president of operations for Perini.

"It's been a really complex project because of the time frame and because we had to work in an existing and operating building without disturbing its tenant, Freeport-McMoRan," Schacherbauer said.

Altering the building to accommodate a hotel meant putting up walls and adding all the basic amenities, such as bathtubs, showers and sink fixtures.

Extensive construction also had to be completed on the first floor. The western side of the building was extended outward, making room for the hotel's entryway on Central Avenue, signature restaurant Province's indoor and outdoor seating, and a second-story pool. Part of what was Freeport-McMoRan's lobby was partitioned off to become the new Westin's lobby.

Down a hallway and past a library sitting area, a new elevator bank for the hotel's customers was built, keeping the building's two tenants separate.

On Feb. 24, Perini's contractors worked feverishly to finish the lobby, restaurant and outdoor area. Chandeliers had yet to be hung, the wall's vinyl had yet to be applied, an outdoor staircase that led to the pool deck had yet to be completed and the reception agents' desks had yet to be placed.

The hotel was set to open in two weeks.

Training begins

That morning, Paula Muñoz Chavez woke up for the first time in one of the hotel's rooms.

It had not yet opened to the public, but Chavez, 24 and from Mexico City, had been given permission by her new employer to stay in one of the 242 guest rooms while she searched for an apartment. She would live in the hotel for two weeks.

Muñoz Chavez was one of 145 employees chosen to work at the new Westin. The hotel received more than 7,500 applications.

She works in the kitchen, preparing cold-food items. Eventually, she will prepare hot entrees for Province customers, in-room diners and poolside guests.

Her passion has always been cooking and traveling, she said.

Just one day before her flight to Phoenix, Muñoz Chavez received her work visa. She began her new job a day after arriving in the Valley.

"My transition has been very fast, very busy," Muñoz Chavez said on Feb. 28. "I'm living in the hotel right now - kind of the Monopoly lifestyle."

Long hours

On the same day, Lemuel Hill jotted notes in a little black notebook, reminders of areas he needed to tidy.

Hill is one the new Westin's housekeeping employees. While Perini's contractors would clean up after themselves, construction in the building meant the constant presence of dust, he said.

"I really believe in this place," Hill said. "I really believe it will succeed. I want to ensure it's as clean as possible for the guests who are arriving soon."

Before the opening, Hill worked long hours, tidying up the hallways and rooms.

So did the so-called road warriors, such as Timothy Swanson, project manager at Kane Hospitality Services, and Kevin Lawrence, operations project manager at Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Westin's parent company. Both men moved to the city for a short while to aid the hotel in opening.

Lawrence led the team that ensured the hotel's supplies - such as pillows, towels and coffeepots - arrived on time. Although he didn't create the budget for fixtures, furniture and equipment - the building owner's role - he did budget for the hotel's operating supplies and equipment.

"If you shook the hotel, everything that falls out, I buy," Lawrence said.

Swanson was responsible for the shipment of all furniture and supplies. But the structure of the building - which only has one dock and one service elevator that is shared with Freeport-McMoRan - prevented scheduling of shipments during daytime hours. From December to March, Swanson scheduled about 140 nighttime hotel shipments and was there to accept them.

In the last weeks before the hotel's grand opening, the hotel received as many as three truckloads of furniture and "pick and packs." They contain all the room's miscellaneous items, such as towels, pillows and hangers, in individual boxes.

"The pick and packs mean that we aren't running through the hallways throwing items into rooms just before opening like we used to," Lawrence said, laughing.

Finishing touches

On Monday, three days before the hotel's grand opening, the hotel's outdoor and entry areas were coming together.

Province's outside patio was landscaped, and the lobby's reception desks were in place. Vinyl had been applied to walls, and all the flooring was installed.

Inside, Chloe Woods, one of the hotel's reception agents, was practicing via live simulations.

"I have you down for a one-night stay, is that correct?" Woods recited.

With employees and Starwood executives arriving daily, the crunch to put rooms "in service" was felt on floors 11 through 18.

When Perini's contractors finished a floor, a project manager and an engineer, both affiliated with Starwood, inspected each room and either accepted it as is or accepted it with conditions. A "punch list" was then provided to the general contractor detailing any defects in the rooms.

Rooms with defects generally are kept out of the hotel's inventory until they're fixed, said Barton, the hotel general manager.

By the grand opening, floors 11 through 15 had been accepted by hotel management. Floor 16 likely will be accepted late this week, and floors 17 and 18 by the end of the March, Barton said.

Although not all floors have been accepted, construction is finished and the hotel has received its certificate of occupancy. Rooms still must be outfitted on the upper floors.

That means about one-half of the hotel's 242 rooms are available to guests at this time.

"You don't want to open a hotel in June," said Whitaker of National Real Estate Advisors. "Being open at only partial capacity for the first couple weeks is not a big deal. It's important that we are catching the last half of the spring season."

Grand-opening memories

On Thursday morning, a red ribbon on the entryway to the hotel was cut, symbolizing the end of one phase and the beginning of the hotel's public life.

The Westin's employees stood on a walkway leading to the second-story pool deck as Barton, city officials and other dignitaries marked the day.

"The exciting thing for me is when I'm at home and I look at the hotel, and there are lights on in the windows," Hill, of housekeeping, said. "I know I was a part of that."

by Megan Neighbor The Arizona Republic Mar. 13, 2011 12:00 AM




Westin quickly opens in Phoenix office space left empty in downturn