A 250,000-square-foot, nearly $190 million multisport complex in North Phoenix is back on track, fulfilling the dream of SSS Partners CEO Shubham Pandey — and his neighbors. Fire ‘N Ice Arena, a nearby hotel and SSS Academy, its operator, will sit on 17.5 acres at 2727 W. Bronco Butte Trail — near the I-17 and Sonoran Desert Drive, adjacent to TSMC. The arena will have a capacity of 2,500 guests in full end-stage or in-the-round configurations. The arena sits on the “dry-court side,” ready for basketball, volleyball and pickleball. The space will be available for tournaments and multisport events.
Pandey says the hotel, which he called a Hilton, will open within two months.
A Hilton spokesperson says, however, “Hilton is committed to growing our presence and meeting our guests’ needs in the destinations where they want to travel — with the right hotel in the right place at the right time. We recognize the opportunity for growth in Phoenix, but we have nothing to confirm at this time.”
Meanwhile, the arena is tentatively set for Aug. 15, with a hard deadline of Sept. 1.
“Fire ‘N Ice” refers to the complex’s duality. The ‘ice’ side features two NHL-style rinks; full Jumbotrons; locker rooms, coaches’ rooms and film-review spaces; and seating designed for showcases, tournaments and junior level games. The ‘fire’ will be a restaurant with a ‘massive’ pizza oven,” according to Fire ‘N Ice’s Nicole Dabney.
Earlier this year, SSS Academies forged a partnership with Entertainment Events Inc. (EEI) to “deliver a dynamic, year-round calendar of ticketed live events to the venue’s state-of-the-art multiuse arena.”
READ MORE: How Silicon Desert is powering Phoenix industrial surge
DEEPER DIVE: Sky Harbor Logistics office-to-industrial project breaks ground
The partnership launches with the venue’s grand opening in September. According to the agreement, EEI will book and present ticketed live events, including major concerts by national touring artists, headlining comedians, tribute bands, full-scale Broadway and Off-Broadway productions, immersive theatrical experiences and family entertainment.
“It’s a passion project,” says Pandey, whose three sons play hockey. “But it’s also a project that needed someone willing to take on the mess.”
Frozen progress
The development began as a privately funded arena hotel concept about a decade ago. Construction moved swiftly, however, the ownership changed, financing collapsed and the pandemic halted work.
When Pandey stepped in, the building was a shell.
“You don’t know what’s missing until you start opening walls,” he says.
The Phoenix Industrial Development Authority (Phoenix IDA) — a “public finance authority that issues private activity bonds to support projects serving the public good,” according to its website — participated in the following private activity bond transactions for these projects: $185 million in educational facilities revenue bonds for SSS Academy, and $15.2 million in hotel revenue bonds for the Fire ‘N Ice Hotel.
Pandey’s team has done more than $1.5 billion in construction, according to Dabney. His team spent more than a year and close to $65 million untangling the project’s past.
“It took me almost 18 months just to clean it up,” Pandey says. “There were broken pipelines everywhere — contracts, inventory, construction gaps. But the hockey component made it worth it.”
Pandey has built dozens of sports education facilities nationwide — but none with ice. That was enough to pull him into a stalled, complicated, expensive project in a state that just lost its NHL team.
“This one is personal,” he says. “I’ve built a lot of arenas, but never one with hockey. This is the one I’m most involved in.”
Pandey says he is doing his best to keep the project on schedule, as construction crews are working double shifts to keep pace. More importantly, he is confident the development will deliver what the community has been waiting for.
“Every week, you see a big change,” he says. “It’s finally happening.”
Pro player pipeline
Pandey’s background is in education and construction, not hospitality. His company operates 62 schools across the country, serving more than 18,000 students, he says.
He also founded Alpha One AI, an AI driven education platform used by schools and government agencies. His construction company, under usaeducationfund.com, has done more than $1.5 billion in construction.
Sports academies became part of his portfolio in 2013 — basketball, volleyball, aquatics and other programs were built into K-12 schools. Fire ‘N Ice Arena is the first to include hockey. The on-site SSS Academy will serve grades nine through 12, with in-person, hybrid and online classes. The goal is to create a pipeline for athletes aiming for Division I, II or III college programs.
“We’re strong in education,” Pandey says. “We can give them an accredited pathway and the training they need daily. That combination is what makes this different.”
Pandey says during school hours, the facility will function as a training center. Evenings and weekends will be reserved for community use — house leagues, club teams, adult leagues and tournaments. Acknowledging the loss of the Arizona Coyotes, Pandey says Fire ‘N Ice Arena will quell “hockey fever.”
This August, the facility will launch Arizona’s first NA3HL (North American 3 Hockey League) junior team named the Phoenix Inferno — a Tier III program for players ages 18 to 21. Sanctioned by USA Hockey, the league has teams around the country.
“Having junior teams helps establish the pathway,” Pandey says. “If you want an NHL team again someday, you need the infrastructure.”
The academy team will be SSS Phoenix Academy, and the house team is the Phoenix Flames.
Before construction restarted, the site drew attention. According to Pandey, drivers gawked, and some inquired at the temporary office.
He attributes the reaction to two things: the long wait and the lack of ice sheets in the Valley. Hockey demand has outpaced supply for years, especially in the North Phoenix corridor.
“People were waiting for this,” he concludes. “They thought it was coming, then it wasn’t, then it stalled. Now it’s real.”
