{"id":43,"date":"2006-01-15T06:17:00","date_gmt":"2006-01-15T13:17:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/?p=43"},"modified":"2006-01-15T06:17:00","modified_gmt":"2006-01-15T13:17:00","slug":"tempe-puts-the-fork-in-the-thunderbird","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/43\/tempe-puts-the-fork-in-the-thunderbird\/","title":{"rendered":"Tempe puts the fork in the Thunderbird…"},"content":{"rendered":"

As anyone who has been to Las Vegas knows, tourism doesn’t make a city. But tourists can make an urban space feel<\/i> like a city. Who is winning that contest in the Valley? Tempe<\/a>, as always:<\/p>\n

But as cities compete for overnight stays, the numbers could work in Tempe’s favor:<\/p>\n

&bul; Business travelers’ stays increased last fiscal year at almost twice the rate in Tempe as the average rate in Phoenix, Chandler, Mesa and Scottsdale, according to TravelCLICK, a company that tracks tourism figures.<\/p>\n

&bul; Sporting events are drawing even bigger crowds. Last year, 2,425 overnight Tempe stays were attributed to the P.F. Chang’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Arizona Marathon & 1\/2 Marathon. This year, that number jumped by about 1,000, according to the Tempe Convention & Visitors Bureau.<\/p>\n

Yet the vast menu of events at Arizona State University and in Tempe’s downtown can overwhelm Tempe’s 5,000 or so hotel rooms, city leaders say. Consider the Fiesta Bowl. Many of the cash-carrying fans, along with the Ohio State and Notre Dame football teams, left Tempe to spend their nights in Scottsdale and Phoenix.<\/p>\n

That’s why plans for expansions at two of the city’s most prominent hotels are hailed as big news. Tempe Mission Palms may add up to 200 guest rooms and 20,000 square feet of meeting space, according to Chris Kenney, the hotel’s director of marketing. The Fiesta Inn Resort’s new ownership is injecting $5 million worth of renovations in the form of landscaping and adding conference space, General Manager Sherry Henry said.<\/p>\n

Plus, a new upscale hotel will likely go into Tempe’s newest lakeshore project. Starwood Capital Group, the brawn behind the Westin, Sheraton, “W” brands and other hotel chains around the world, has expressed “enthusiastic” interest in putting a luxury hotel on the Tempe Town Lake site, said Chris Salamone, Tempe’s development manager.<\/p>\n

“Building new hotels to fulfill the needs of all the tourists our events bring in, for a city that’s landlocked it’s the key to our financial solvency,” he said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It is needful to point out that these are not to be taxpayer-subsidized hotel rooms. They are being built by actual entrepreneurial Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As anyone who has been to Las Vegas knows, tourism doesn’t make a city. But tourists can make an urban space feel like a city. Who is winning that contest in the Valley? Tempe, as always: But as cities compete for overnight stays, the numbers could work in Tempe’s favor: &bul; Business travelers’ stays increased […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-43","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"hentry","6":"category-general","8":"no-featured-image"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":238,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/238\/i-think-theyre-trying-to-turn-this-into-a-little-new-york-city\/","url_meta":{"origin":43,"position":0},"title":"Phoenix rising: “I think they’re trying to turn this into a little New York City . . . “","author":"Greg Swann","date":"August 24, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"That's a debatable point, but Angela Cara Pancrazio of the Arizona Republic has a sweet feature in today's paper on how cranes are remaking the skyline of Phoenix:Phoenix is rising again. And the cranes have arrived, reaching into a city and stretching its torso upward. With the exception of the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Real Estate"","block_context":{"text":"Real Estate","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/real-estate\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":30,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/30\/lilliputians-win-downtown-phoenix-to-be-erected-in-downtown-tempe\/","url_meta":{"origin":43,"position":1},"title":"Lilliputians win: Downtown Phoenix to be erected in Downtown Tempe","author":"Odysseus","date":"December 22, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"This just in:The Phoenix City Council yielded to pressure from residents Wednesday and decided to reverse its decision to allow more high-rises in the upscale Camelback Corridor. The action effectively kills several projects, most notably the $200 million condominium\/hotel development proposed by Donald Trump and development partner Bayrock Group near\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/general\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":32,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/32\/how-the-grinch-stole-home\/","url_meta":{"origin":43,"position":2},"title":"How the Grinch stole home…","author":"Odysseus","date":"December 23, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Interest rates are down, Gas prices are down, housing starts nationwide are up, and home prices in the Valley are up, so you know what that means. Yup, the sky is falling yet again. Affordable homes are vanishing. Vanishing! It must be the Grinch, slinking around with a bottomless bag\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/general\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":537,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/537\/valley-of-the-rubes-theres-always-a-new-boondoggle-to-rob-the-taxpayers\/","url_meta":{"origin":43,"position":3},"title":"Valley of the Rubes: There’s always a new boondoggle to rob the taxpayers . . .","author":"Greg Swann","date":"October 14, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"I love Metropolitan Phoenix. I understand that some people don't, but for me it is the perfect paradise on Earth. So do please understand that the withering critique I am about to offer is directed only at the gullibility of some of the people who live here and not at\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Marketing"","block_context":{"text":"Marketing","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/marketing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":689,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/689\/real-estate-news-there-may-in-fact-truly-be-a-day-beyond-tomorrow\/","url_meta":{"origin":43,"position":4},"title":"Sunday real estate news: There may, in fact, truly be a day beyond tomorrow . . .","author":"Greg Swann","date":"November 26, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"The Arizona Republic is positively ripe with real estate stories today. First up, the amazingly ugly Chateaux on Central condominium development is being forced into bankruptcy. The homes were to sell for $2- to $4-million for apartments as many as six-stories tall -- not a misprint. Freddy Krueger and Damien\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Marketing"","block_context":{"text":"Marketing","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/marketing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":609,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/609\/raking-for-muck-in-phoenix\/","url_meta":{"origin":43,"position":5},"title":"Raking for muck in Phoenix . . .","author":"Greg Swann","date":"November 6, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Anthony Barba tips us that the Phoenix real estate market is going to get Drudged tonight. I'll link to it when it happens... Further notice: The article is up. The New York Times and it's full of condescending errors: Hunt Highway is in Queen Creek, 45 minutes south and east\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Marketing"","block_context":{"text":"Marketing","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/marketing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}