GLENDALE, AZ-John Q. Hammons Hotels & Resorts Inc. is in negotiations for a second development site in the city after opening a 320-key, four-star Marriott Renaissance to a full house. At least two more hotels will be built in Greater Phoenix now that the Springfield, MO-based developer has ventured into the market.

The opening play is an $80-million-plus hotel and spa at 9495 W. Coyotes Blvd., within 800 feet of the $450-million Arizona Cardinals' stadium and 300 feet from the Jobing.com Arena. L. Scott Tarwater, senior vice president of development for John Q. Hammons, tells GlobeSt.com that the second site, situated “in the same general vicinity” as the just-opened Marriott Renaissance, should be in hand within four or five months.

The 12-story Marriott Renaissance Glendale Hotel & Spa is the second hotel in two weeks to open in the city and a third ribbon-cutting will be held next week. With Super Bowl XLII in its future, Glendale has turned into a development hotbed for the hospitality sector, explains a spokeswoman for the Greater Phoenix Convention & Visitors Bureau. The Greater Phoenix market presently has 55,000 hotel and resort rooms of all types, many of which have slashed rates in recent days in a good-neighbor gesture for California evacuees.

With a “no vacancy” sign on opening night, noted hotelier John Q. Hammons was “grinning from ear to ear,” Tarwater says. The slam dunk is part of Hammons' $750-million push into the West, where he has 10 hotel projects under development, all slated for completion within 30 months. Nationwide, the pipeline totals $1.4 billion.

The western push will put Embassy Suites flags on a 265-key hotel in Loveland, CO; 300 keys with 100,000 sf of meeting space in Pleasant Grove, UT; 282 keys in San Marcos, TX; 280 keys in Norman, OK; 283 keys in Murfreesboro, TN; and 257 keys beside a 240-room Courtyard by Marriott, both connected to a 100,000-sf convention center in LaVista, NE. The Texas, Oklahoma and Tennessee projects all have 80,000 sf of meeting space. At the Kansas City International Airport, Hammons is building a 152-key Residence Inn. A Marriott Renaissance flag will fly over a 320-room hotel with 80,000 sf of meeting space in Colorado Springs, CO and a full-service Marriott branding will go into place on a 229-key hotel, with 40,000 sf of meeting space, in Normal, IL.

Tarwater says the team's optimistic that the new markets will mirror the success of two recently opened 300-room hotels in Concord, NC and Huntsville, AL. He says both are registering 80% occupancies.

The Marriott Renaissance Glendale features the Soleil restaurant, conference center, media center, two-story Spa Botanica, three presidential suites and two concierge levels. “The incredible development in the West Valley area provided an excellent opportunity to build this beautiful gem of a property,” chairman and CEO Hammons says in a press release. A VIP event will be held Tuesday and a formal grand opening in November.

Instant Insights /

John Q. Hammons In Talks for More Arizona Sites

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