Sheraton Phoenix Crescent hotel near Metrocenter to be sold

A swanky north Phoenix hotel built by Charles Keating in the 1980s will get a new owner soon when it goes up for auction.

The big picture: The Sheraton Phoenix Crescent at Dunlap Avenue and Interstate 17 has been closed since an electrical fire in January 2023.

• Initial bids for the building are due Sept. 16, according to David Fogler of Cushman Wakefield, the brokerage hired to facilitate the sale for a court-appointed receiver.
• If more than one qualified bid is submitted, there will be an auction on Sept. 25.

What we're watching: Fogler said he presumes the Sheraton's next owner will keep the building rather than bulldoze it because, "It's a pretty significant piece of real estate that … still has a lot of nice features to it."

• He predicted it would remain a hotel or be converted into attainable housing.
• Fogler noted that the building is in the city's North Mountain Redevelopment Area, created in 2013 to revitalize the area, "so I'm guessing the city would be open to ideas about redevelopment of the property in any number of forms."

Zoom in: Denver-based Stok Investment Group had been under contract to buy the hotel and was considering an adaptive reuse project, but the building ended up in receivership after its owner defaulted on its loans, Stok partner Matt Macko told Axios.

• "It's kind of up for grabs in terms of who's going to do what with it," Macko said.

Context: Whatever happens with the Sheraton, it could benefit from the area's larger revitalization driven by the pending redevelopment of Metrocenter Mall.

• Developers plan to build an "urban village" on the site that will include more than 2,600 apartments, restaurants, bars, retail and entertainment.
• The plans are spurring other projects in the area, such as the revitalization of a nearby corporate center.
• The city in January officially extended Valley Metro light rail service to Metrocenter.

What they're saying: "I think we're going to see a rebirth in that area" and the Crescent could be a big part of that, Phoenix City Council member Deb Stark, whose district includes the hotel, told Axios.

• Now that plans for Metrocenter have been solidified and the light rail runs to the mall, she questioned whether that would generate renewed interest in the property.
• Stark also noted that a developer has tentative plans to convert an adjacent office building into apartments.

Flashback: The Sheraton Phoenix Crescent was built by Keating's American Continental Corporation and opened in 1986.

• In 1984, the company bought the Crescent Hotel Group, which it used to purchase Scottsdale's Jokake Inn and to build the Sheraton and The Phoenician Resort.
• That same year, Keating's company purchased First Lincoln Financial Corp, owner of Lincoln Savings and Loan Association.
• American Continental declared bankruptcy in 1989 after Lincoln's infamous collapse, and the federal government seized the Sheraton Phoenix Crescent and The Phoenician later that year.