[DevdogAZ]

This article appeared in the Republic within the last week, announcing a Hyatt Place hotel to be built at Mesa Riverview, east of the Cinemark movie theaters.

Hyatt hotel to go up at Riverview
Jim Walsh
The Arizona Republic
Mar. 2, 2007 07:14 PM

A Hyatt Place hotel will be built at Mesa Riverview east of the Cinemark movie theater, near a planned office complex.

Marty De Rito, president of De Rito Partners Development, announced Thursday at a community meeting that the hotel will be added to the mixed-use development.

De Rito previously had announced a hotel would be built at the site, but had not identified the chain. De Rito could not be reached for comment Friday, but Kevin Christopher, a city spokesman, and Vice Mayor Claudia Walters both said they heard the announcement. Construction could begin at year's end.

"We want to fit in with what they're doing there. It's very creative," said Lewis Wolff, owner of the Oakland Athletics baseball team and principal of Wolff Urban Development, which will own, operate and build the hotel.

Wolff said he is considering a "baseball theme," with batting cages that would be available for guests to use and a fitness room with equipment similar to that used by players.

"A little bit of a Major League Baseball touch, if I can pull it off," he said. "It's a hotel we'd like to operate for business and pleasure travelers. I want it to be fun."

Robert Brinton, executive director of the Mesa Convention and Visitors Bureau, said the hotel will be "very upscale" and have 150 rooms. "It's a great product and we're happy to have it here."

The Hyatt Place chain caters to business travelers and features a state-of-the art media work center in each guest room, with a 42-inch plasma television and Wi Fi, according to the company's Web site.

Wolff's profile on the A's Web site said he owns the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in St. Louis and Fairmont hotels in San Francisco, San Jose and Santa Monica, Calif., and New Orleans.

The real estate investment firm develops office, hotel, retail, townhouses and commercial parking properties, according to its Web site.

The Hyatt Place would be six miles from Sky Harbor International Airport, within walking distance to the Bass Pro Shops under construction at Mesa Riverview and fill a void in the Mesa hotel market, Brinton said. It also would be close to Hohokam Stadium and help Mesa maximize revenues from the Cactus League by adding more rooms for Chicago Cubs fans.

"We haven't had enough hotels on the north side of Mesa," he said. A Marriott Courtyard, which also serves business travelers, is planned for Falcon Field.

"We know a Bass Pro will generate 3,000 annual hotel rooms a year," Brinton said. "This fits in nicely with the office and the retail."

A Bass Pro is the anchor tenant at Riverview.

The city needs more hotel rooms to capitalize fully on the Cactus League, Brinton said.

"We still know we have more people stay outside of Mesa and not inside of Mesa because we don't have enough rooms," he said.