Friday, September 12, 2008
Sheraton Phoenix Downtown poised for Sept. 30 opening after years of planning, preparationPhoenix Business Journal - by Lynn Ducey Phoenix Business Journal
The Sheraton Phoenix Downtown won't open for another two weeks, but crews have been working for months to get the state's largest hotel up and running.
As director of sales and marketing, Steve Spivak has overseen work on the 32-floor, 1,000-room behemoth, which anchors the corner of Van Buren and Third streets in Copper Square.
"When I got here, I was employee No. 1. They were just excavating the site," Spivak said.
That was in March 2006. Since then, hundreds of construction workers have fashioned steel and rebar into the latest addition to Phoenix's skyline.
While the number of construction workers at the site has declined from a peak of 600, the few weeks prior to the hotel's grand opening have more than two dozen workers finishing tiling, lighting and stone fountain work in the restaurant and main lobby.
Getting a hotel of the Sheraton's magnitude ready for guests is a huge job. Dawn Flynn, operations project manager, has been working for months to outfit the hotel from top to bottom. To handle the task, she has taken over the 29,000-square-foot Phoenix Ballroom, which occupies most of the hotel's third floor.
On a recent day, Flynn sat behind a card table with a laptop computer and printer and held court over the ballroom -- which was, at that point, filled with hundreds of chairs.
"We've got dozens of deliveries coming by truck every day. It has to be checked in, it has to be accounted for, and it has to be deployed," she said.
Running the show
Flynn is employed by Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide Inc., which manages the Sheraton. She travels across the country outfitting new properties.
"If you took the hotel and turned it upside down, I am responsible for everything that falls out," she said. "Operating supplies and equipment, that's my life."
Using a sophisticated inventory system, she uses her laptop to pull raw inventory from two off-site Phoenix warehouses and have it delivered to the ballroom. From there, the material is sorted and deployed to guest rooms, kitchens and every other nook and cranny of the hotel.
The Sheraton is owned by the city of Phoenix through its self-created Downtown Phoenix Hotel Corp. Construction of the hotel was financed through $350 million in municipal bonds.
Starwood is based in White Plains, N.Y., and manages hotel flags including Sheraton, Westin, W and Le Meridien worldwide. The company also has a strong local presence, managing properties including the Wigwam Golf Resort & Spa, the Westin Kierland Resort and Spa, the Sheraton Wild Horse Pass, The Phoenician Resort and the newly opened W Scottsdale.
"Whatever Starwood does is really successful. Anything they do is golden," said Rich Moss, president of Mastel Linen Co. and Mastel Dry Cleaning and Laundry, two family-owned companies based in the Valley.
Mastel holds Starwood's contract for dry cleaning services. That means the company will handle dry cleaning not only for the hotel, but also for its guests. Moss expects his crews to make at least three daily trips to the property to pick up and drop off clothing and uniforms.
"This will be my biggest contract by far. This is really the No. 1 company to get as a client," he said.
Getting the hotel's business took some effort. Moss said he and his team worked for months on a proposal and presentation. They met with executives and made a proposal not only for the dry cleaning portion of the hotel's business, but also for the linen and laundry contract. While Mastel was rewarded with the dry cleaning work, Phoenix-based Specialty Textile Services got the laundry contract.
Tourism boost
Moss said the new Sheraton will make a significant contribution to the Valley's economic engine.
"A hotel of that magnitude and size is going to bring in a tremendous amount of business. This is really going to be huge," he said.
Those in the hospitality and tourism industry agree. The hotel was built in tandem with the $600 million expansion of the Phoenix Convention Center.
That project includes the Convention Center's new west building, with its iconic 90-foot mirror sculpted by Louise Bourgeois, as well as a huge north building. Expected to be finished in January, the north building will add 635,000 square feet of meeting space to the facility.
Industry analyst Robert Hayward of Phoenix-based Warnick and Co. said the Convention Center upgrade and the new hotel will help Phoenix compete with first-tier cities for large convention business.
Doug MacKenzie, director of communications for the Greater Phoenix Convention & Visitors Bureau, said two national groups have booked conventions for the first month the north building opens. The Cattlemen's Beef Association and Mary Kay Cosmetics both will meet there in January.
"These are huge national conventions, and that market is certainly going to expand for us," MacKenzie said.
Such business is possible because the hotel and convention center will operate in tandem, with each complementing the other, Hayward said.
Hayward's firm is the asset manager and acts as liaison between Phoenix and Starwood for the hotel, he said.
Brent DeRaad, executive vice president of the Scottsdale Convention & Visitors Bureau, said the downtown Phoenix hotel will pay off for tourism venues across the Valley.
"This will really bring in groups that have never before considered the Valley. We feel once we get customers here, we have an opportunity for spin-off business," he said.
Get Connected
Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide Inc.:
www.starwoodhotels.com
Warnick and Co.:
www.warnickco.com