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Phoenix Council To Vote On Downtown Sheraton Hotel Sale

Downtown Phoenix Sheraton
(Wikimedia Commons)
Downtown Phoenix Sheraton

Phoenix may soon get out of the hotel business. Council members are scheduled to vote Wednesday on selling the Sheraton Grand Phoenix — at a lower price than originally expected.

Last year, a Florida-based company offered to buy the city-owned hotel for $300 million, but a few months later it backed out. Now, the same company, TLG Phoenix, is offering to pay $255 million.

Phoenix built the 1,000-room hotel downtown when the private sector would not. It opened during the height of the recession. The city owns the hotel and pays a management fee to Starwood Hotels and Resorts to operate.

According to a city council report, closing the deal is expected to cost the city about $40 million. Selling the Sheraton could also boost efforts for a new sports and entertainment arena. In 1992, Phoenix created a tourism sales tax to build the arena where the Suns and Mercury currently play and the city’s been using that money to cover losses from the Sheraton.

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As a senior field correspondent, Christina Estes focuses on stories that impact our economy, your wallet and public policy.