Arizona State University’s Novus Innovation Corridor is getting a new hotel. The seven-story property will sit at Novus Place and Packard Drive, right in the middle of the development’s main street entertainment district. At 116,855 square feet, the building will hold 168 guest rooms, a rooftop pool and bar, and a 2,700-square-foot meeting space.
The hotel will join Marriott Bonvoy’s Tribute Portfolio, a brand that groups together independently run hotels. The design will mix materials with different finishes and textures, and it will include small nods to ASU’s campus look and feel.
Novus itself covers 355 acres and connects directly to ASU’s Tempe campus, which is the university’s largest. The project is a multi-phase, mixed-use development, meaning it combines housing, retail, offices, and now hospitality in one area.
Who Is Building It
Okland Construction will handle planning, design, and construction management for the hotel. The company is privately held and largely owned by its employees through an Employee Stock Ownership Plan. Okland has been in business for more than a century and has worked on other Arizona projects, including:
- The Global Ambassador Hotel
- Mortgage Matchup Center, home to the Phoenix Suns and Phoenix Mercury
- Phoenix Police Headquarters
- ASU’s Thunderbird School of Global Management headquarters
- ASU’s ISTB8 building at the Phoenix Bioscience Core
Banbury Development is the master developer overseeing Novus as a whole. Greg Weaver, the company’s CEO, said the hotel adds a new piece to the development’s mix of uses.
Dr. Morgan Olsen, ASU’s Executive Vice President, Treasurer, and Chief Financial Officer, said the hotel supports the university’s goal of making Novus a spot for residents, visitors, and sports fans on game days. He added that the hotel’s amenities and campus location will serve prospective students, their families, ASU’s corporate partners, and other businesses at Novus.
Sports Venues Are Part of the Bigger Picture
Novus has built a reputation as a hub for collegiate sports, and the area around its athletic venues has grown into a year-round destination rather than just a game-day stop. ASU is putting more than $150 million into sports facilities at Novus. That includes $55 million for an indoor football practice facility and $100 million to modernize Desert Financial Arena, which is 51 years old.
Those investments come on top of two other projects: a $300 million renovation of Mountain America Stadium and the completed Mullett Arena, a $140 million venue that seats 5,000 people. Developments that combine sports venues with surrounding retail, housing, and hotels have been drawing attention nationally for how they can raise nearby property values, and Novus is often cited as a college-level example of that trend.
