Grand Ole Opry owner plans Arizona's biggest hotel in Mesa
Sonu Munshi and Donna Hogan
East Valley Tribune
Published : September 03, 2008
Mesa could soon be home to Arizona's biggest hotel.
The owner of Nashville's Grand Ole Opry and Gaylord Opryland, the destination resort hotel next door to the legendary home of country music, plans to build a new version of its signature hotel brand in Mesa, the company announced today amidst a who's who of East Valley leaders at the Mesa Arts Center.
Nashville, Tenn.-based Gaylord Entertainment will buy 100 acres of the 3,200-acre General Motors Proving Ground in southeast Mesa from real estate developer DMB Associates to develop its fifth Gaylord resort and conference center project.
The project is expected to rise 10 stories, have 1,200 to 1,500 rooms and 400,000 square feet of meeting/convention space, several restaurants and other resort amenities. It would start welcoming guests as soon as 2012.
"This will be much, much bigger than any convention center hotel in the Valley," said Gaylord CEO Colin Reed.
Reed said the company was attracted to Mesa in particular because it saw a chance to buy a large, contiguous chunk of real estate.
The company primarily caters to the large group convention business, with a steady demand from meeting planners to host their events at different locations.
About 50 to 60 acres are expected to be developed at first in the Mesa project, with room for expansion, Reed said.
Reed expects the project to generate at least 2,000 jobs. Mesa also was attractive to the company because of its "well-educated work force, communities which are well governed and a decent community," Reed said.
The views of the Superstition Mountains to the east also helped, he added.
"The topography on this site we're going to build on is pretty neat," Reed said.
Mesa Mayor Scott Smith joined DMB's chief executive, Drew Brown, in making the announcement at the arts center, both hailing the project as a great opportunity for Mesa.
DMB also plans to kick in a 200-acre desert golf course and resort-style retail.
Westcor, which announced a partnership with DMB in March while the two former foes were battling over retailers for rival projects in the north East Valley, will develop the retail portion of the project.
John Bradley, general manager of master developer DMB's massive Proving Grounds project, termed the project a huge catalyst for Mesa and certainly for Mesa Proving Grounds.
"This is the biggest thing happening in the hospitality industry in Arizona," Bradley said.
The Gaylord project is anticipated to bring thousands of jobs and ancillary business to the area. The land is adjacent to the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport. Mesa city officials and leaders have been pushing for high quality jobs in the area around Gateway airport. With an emphasis on the huge convention facility, this new project also is being billed as a key driver in strengthening the airport's future growth and development.
"We're going to be the biggest cheerleader and promoter of that airport," Bradley said.
Attracting high quality jobs remains a key goal as well, Bradley said.
The massive hotel, he said, will help outsiders to take notice of this burgeoning part of the country, he said.
DMB owns 3,200 acres of the GM property, which it bought for $265 million in 2006.
GM, which is shifting its vehicle testing site to Yuma, is expected to vacate the property by next summer.
Gaylord will own and operate the facility, when built.
The company's typical target clientele is large meeting groups. Meeting planners prefer an integrated convention center within a hotel to make bookings, but also seek different venues each year, Bradley said.
Gaylord, which specializes in upscale conference center resort complexes, also has properties in Orlando, Fla., Washington D.C. and the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
The newest Gaylord, on the banks of the Potomac River, just across the water from the nation's capital, debuted in April. It had more than 1.5 million rooms nights pre-booked before its debut.
Pending city approvals, the Mesa project could be ready to start digging up dirt within 90 days after GM moves out, Bradley said.
Home | Sales | Financing | Sitemap | Williams Gateway | FAQ | Photos | Schedule | Press Room | Potential Configurations | Contact