A downtown Phoenix site, long the home of an iconic motel, may soon be redeveloped as part of an edgy smart technology hotel.
The EV Hotel Group, which is based in Atlanta, says it wants to build its new property at the northwest corner of 6th Avenue and Van Buren Street.
The site for years was the home to the City Center Motel, a late 1950s motel exemplifying the era’s Googie architecture that several years ago became part of the Travelodge franchise.
Earlier plans to demolish the motel met with resistance from area residents and preservationists who argued that the structure was important historically and should be saved.
Now the EV Hotel Group has announced plans to build what will be its first completely automated hotel at the site, allowing for the use of crypto payments, while incorporating the original motel into the design plan.
What is being billed as a “tech/automation and crypto hotel,” will feature some 20 smart mirror, showers, speakers, and door locks in each room. In a statement Ken Patel, chief executive officer of the EV Hotel Group, said the company is “focused on reinventing hospitality and distancing itself from the traditional tactics of the industry.”
As planned, the new hotel, to be called the EV AI Hotel, will feature upwards of 100 rooms. Reports indicate that the project could cost as much as $27 million to complete, with work beginning sometime in 2023.
The EV Hotel Group earlier announced plans to build its smart technology hotels in around a dozen locations across the globe. The Phoenix project will be the company’s first such venture.
By Garry Boulard
