A new hotel on the site of a former 1960s Travelodge Motel may be joining the Phoenix skyline.
The companies Day and Sam Incorporated and Copper Square LLC have proposed building an eight-story hotel that would go up on a 2.2-acre site at the southwest corner of North 11th Street and E. Van Buren Street.
As proposed, the project, which is being called the Ahir Hotel, would include 254 rooms and two levels of structured parking with space for 128 vehicles. Up to 5,000 square feet of non-residential space will be built on the hotel’s ground floor.
According to city documents, the hotel will feature a façade “with a variety of colors and materials providing visual interest.”
Trees will be planted on both the 11th Street and Van Buren Street side, which will “reduce the urban heat island effect, while also improving thermal comfort to site users and the surrounding neighborhood.”
The project is scheduled to be reviewed by the Phoenix Planning Commission on November 2.
The property is currently the home to a two-story building which was built in 1961 and formerly served as a Travelodge Motel, advertising such features as refrigerated air, free television, and room phones.
Travelodge Motels were one of the first motel chains in the U.S., and rapidly expanded in the 1950s and 60s with a particular emphasis on downtown locations in the West.
By Garry Boulard
