Construction is now set to begin in Phoenix on a unique and first-of-its-kind $124 million hotel that will be centered on a series of wildly popular arcade video games produced in the 1980s and 90s by the Atari Games Corporation.
The roughly 90,000-square-foot building will go up near the intersection of Central Avenue and Roosevelt Street and will house 72 rooms and 19 suites. The unusual project, which is expected to be the first such Atari Hotel in a planned network, will also have restaurant and retail space, as well as space for concerts.
But crucial to the project is the planned 60,000-square-feet of immersive entertainment and video game experience space.
The project, long in the conceptual and talking stage, has taken an important step forward with the imminent demolition of a two-story structure at the site, whose official address is 840 N. Central Avenue.
That structure was formerly the home of KOOL-AM, a radio station that began broadcasting in the building in 1957.
The new hotel project is being undertaken by the Phoenix-based company Intersection Development, which purchased the less than one-acre site more than two years ago for $10.3 million.
An exact schedule for when the construction of the Atari venture will begin has not yet been announced, but it is expected that work will almost certainly launch well before the end of this year.
A press release issued late last year by Atari said that a grand opening for the hotel is planned for “mid to late 2028.”
June 18, 2026
By Garry Boulard
