It’s been awhile since I’ve seen any action or any news on any of the Starwood Capital Group hotel brands. It seems as though they have been focusing more on the Louvre Hotel Group in Europe rather than their hotel brands in America – and rightly so, the financial climate is very different in Europe compared to America – especially when building a large project such as a luxury hotel.

At the same time, 1 Hotel has had so many projects on the burner since they first announced the brand in 2006 and seemingly just as many setbacks in that time. The 1 Hotel Seattle was originally due to open by 2009 – yet it doesn’t even look as though they will begin construction until then.

But there is news! After reading an article from the East Valley Tribune it looks like the Scottsdale project is back on track!

The 1 Hotel Scottsdale is due to be built adjacent to the Scottsdale Waterfront – a project that Starwood Capital also has an ownership interest in that has been on the drawing boards since 2003, and only now is finally close to completion.

The 4 Acre Site where 1 Hotel Scottsdale is to be built

The Scottsdale Waterfrontis a fairly large mixed-use development – a combination of both high end commercial boutiques and two luxury condo high rises – definitely a very high end development, from what I’ve been able to gather, the commercial aspect of the development – is very close to being finished, whereas the residential aspect – the two highrise condos – is still very much under construction.

Now, Starwood Capital is saying that the 1 Hotel Scottsdale will have a groundbreaking in the beginning of 2009, with an opening probably in 2010 or 2011, and is due to contain 200 hotel rooms, two signature restaurants, a spa, tea garden, fitness center & rooftop garden. Of course, the 1 Hotel Scottsdale will also have the signature 1 Hotel elements – such as the restaurant being operated by Steve Hansen, as well as LEED Certification throughout the project.

According to the newspaper article the delay was caused by:

The nationwide financial crunch caused the two-year delay in the original plans, he said.

“Now the banks are back lending again,” [Bret] Sassenberg [Starwood's Director of Development] said.

Those are somewhat interesting comments because two years ago, the financial crunch was pretty much nothing but a blip on some forward thinking people’s radar, and yes it is showing some signs of recovery – but it still is very difficult to find financing. So I’m not quite sure that was the real reason for the delay and Starwood Capitalhas a very good reputation making smart financing deals and does have alot of access to capital. It’s very possible that they were waiting for the Scottsdale Waterfront development to finish or almost be finished before they began construction on the 1 Hotel.

I have not been able to find any renderings of the building yet, besides the fact that Nelsen Partners seems to be in charge of the master plan of the development, as soon as I find something – I’ll be sure to update here.

andrew@alconic-inc.com