An Element hotel will occupy the southwestern corner of the SkySong, The ASU Scottsdale Innovation Center complex, the latest addition to the 42-acre technology and innovation hub.
The Marriott-brand hotel is critical for than 50 businesses that are currently located on the south Scottsdale site. The 148-room hotel is planned for the southwestern corner of the SkySong complex, near Scottsdale Road and Enterprise Drive.
The new hotel is being developed by Jackson Shaw, a nationally recognized leader in hospitality development. It is designed by Cooper Cary, a national architecture firm with an extensive amount of experience in designing high-quality hospitality projects, particularly around technology campuses such as SkySong.
As with everything at SkySong, a particular emphasis will be given to creating a healthy and sustainable environment. The hotel will have extensive green-building features, and guests will be able to enjoy an oversized gym on-site, rental bicycles and a natural saline swimming pool.
“We are very excited to bring this Element hotel to SkySong and believe it is an ideal fit for the spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship that defines this project,” said Michele Wheeler, President and Chief Operating Officer of Jackson Shaw. “The hotel will be designed to seamlessly compliment the exceptional design at SkySong as well as providing an important new amenity for the project.”
The Element brand is one of the higher-end labels that are a part of the Marriott Distinctive family of hotels, which offers 30 hotels brands across 6,000+ locations in more than 122 countries and territories. It is one of the most active brands in the Marriott family with more than 100 Element hotels worldwide.
Construction on the hotel is slated to begin by the end of 2017, with the goal of opening the hotel in the spring or summer of 2019.
“Amenities such as a hotel, apartments, restaurants and retail are key in attracting companies from both inside and outside the state that are looking for unique, creative and innovative work environments,” said Sharon Harper, President & CEO of Plaza Companies. “According to studies we’ve done of SkySong tenants, about 50 percent of current SkySong tenants use local hotels on a weekly basis in their business dealings, and thousands of people visit SkySong every month for meetings and conferences. A high-level hotel will be a great amenity in helping SkySong attract more regional and national corporate headquarters.”
Sethuraman Panchanathan, executive vice president of Knowledge Enterprise Development and chief research and innovation officer at Arizona State University, said that the Element hotel will be an important addition to SkySong and to the surrounding community.
“We are very pleased to be able to bring such a well-regarded hotel brand to SkySong,” he said. “The Element brand is well-aligned with SkySong’s commitment to innovation, technology and quality. This will be a significant amenity for those individuals and companies visiting SkySong as well as serving as a great location for visitors to Scottsdale. And it will provide some tremendous opportunities for ASU and SkySong’s companies to host conferences that make use of this new hotel.”
Plaza Companies is the master developer of SkySong in partnership with University Realty LLC, Holualoa Companies and the City of Scottsdale.
SkySong, the ASU Scottsdale Innovation Center is home to a global business community that links technology, entrepreneurship, innovation, and education to position ASU and Greater Phoenix as global leaders of the knowledge economy.
SkySong is a 42-acre mixed use development designed to:
• Create an ecology of collaboration and innovation among high-profile technology enterprises and related researchers;
• Advance global business objectives of on-site enterprises;
• Raise Arizona’s profile as a global center of innovation through co-location of ASU’s strategic global partners; and
• Create a unique regional economic and social asset.
Companies located at SkySong enjoy a special relationship with Arizona State University, which has more than 90,000 students studying across four metropolitan Phoenix campuses, in Lake Havasu and online. ASU is one of the largest public universities in the nation, with the majority of its students attending its campus in Tempe, Arizona, less than three miles from SkySong.
In addition to locating its own innovative research units at the center, through ASU’s on-site operations, tenant companies have a single point of contact for introductions to researchers, faculty and programs to address their specific needs.
For more information on SkySong, visit www.skysong.com or www.facebook.com/skysongcenter.
