Private capital again fails downtown Phoenix

Here's a tragedy buried inside the Republic, and thanks to a reader for finding it:

Construction on the $100 million Hotel Monroe - a property seen as critical to downtown's rebirth- is winding down, and it is unclear when or if the project will be finished.

The project's developer, Grace Communities, said Tuesday it was unable to get financing from Mortgages Ltd. to complete the project.

The Hotel Monroe was set to open in October as a 150-room boutique hotel. The property, a former professional building at Central Avenue and Monroe, was constructed in 1931 and once housed Valley National Bank.

Any successful big city has several boutique hotels in restored historic buildings downtown. Even in smaller cities, such as Denver, Seattle, Cincinnati, Des Moines...Oklahoma City. Not poor Phoenix. Once again, the dearth of private capital downtown shows. Yes, the downturn and Mortgages Ltd. meltdown hurt. But the old Valley Bank building has sat empty for years. The once grand Westward Ho was consigned to subsidized housing. I can't imagine such an outcome in any other big city. So, so sad.

UPDATE: read a new story about further damage to the few private-sector projects downtown due to the Mortgages Ltd. collapse. Gee...let's pay a Scottsdale company to come up with a new name for downtown -- that'll fix everything.

Comments

[Mark Shinkonis]

Ha ha, again I say nobody cares what they call "Copper Square". It is only a portion of downtown. I've never heard anyone say "I'm going to Copper Square this evening". Maybe a new name will change that maybe it won't. One thing is for sure, it'll have no effect on the financing for Hotel Monroe. However, the completion of the light rail and the addition to the convention center may give them the boost they need to secure new financing. For Jackson St the state may step in with a "TIF". Read about that here: http://phoenix.bizjournals.com/phoenix/stories/2008/06/16/daily42.html?ana=yfcpc

[Derek Neighbors]

It is really private capital's fault? No one in their right mind that is looking to make money (private capital) puts funding in to projects that lose money. Projects like this have a horrible history in Phoenix.