Novus Innovation Corridor, a multi-phase mixed-use development spanning 355 acres integrated with Arizona State University’s largest campus, will add an upscale hotel in the heart of its main street entertainment district. The seven-story, 116,855-square-foot property at Novus Place and Packard Drive will be part of Marriott Bonvoy’s Tribute Portfolio, a growing global family of independent hotels united by their passion for captivating design and a vibrant social scene.
The hotel will feature 168 thoughtfully designed guest rooms, an inviting rooftop pool and bar, and a 2,700-square-foot meeting space. The façade will combine materials with contrasting finishes and textures, including subtle hints of the university’s campus identity.
“The hotel is the next step in realizing our vision of making Novus a destination for residents, visitors and sports fans on game days,” said Dr. Morgan Olsen, executive vice president, treasurer and chief financial officer of Arizona State University. “Prospective students, their families, companies partnered with ASU and locations in Novus and the ASU community all will benefit from the hotel’s amenities and its location on the ASU Tempe campus.”
“The hotel will also add a new dimension to the development’s unique ecosystem,” said Greg Weaver, CEO of Banbury Development, the master developer of Novus.
Okland Construction, a privately held company with significant employee ownership through its Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP), will oversee the hotel’s planning, design and construction management. The company has a more than 100-year track record of creating remarkable experiences for clients, partners and team members. Among its notable projects are The Global Ambassador Hotel, Mortgage Matchup Center (home of the Phoenix Suns and Phoenix Mercury), the Phoenix Police Headquarters, the global headquarters of ASU’s Thunderbird School of Global management and ASU’s ISTB8 at the Phoenix Bioscience Core.
“ASU continues to lead in every way,” said Bill Okland, CEO of Okland Construction. “We are grateful to partner with the university and Banbury Development to take Novus to an even higher level.”
One of the defining expressions of Novus is its preeminence as a collegiate sports destination, with a mix of uses that transform athletic venues into year-round integrated community assets, creating year-round activity and engagement.
Sports venue-anchored mixed-use districts are getting national attention for their ability to attract people and increase the value of surrounding properties, and Novus is a leading collegiate example.
ASU is investing more than $150 million in sports venues at Novus, including $55 million in a state-of-the-art indoor football practice facility and another $100 million for the modernization of the university’s 51-year-old Desert Financial Arena. That’s on top of the $300 million renovation of Mountain America Stadium and the resounding success of the $140 million, 5,000-seat Mullett Arena.
Novus is one of 10 ASU Innovation Zones, designed to drive the regional economy by connecting ideas to industry, talent to opportunity and research to impact. Each Innovation Zone represents a distributed, regionally integrated model of university-driven economic development. Rather than concentrating innovation in a single dense district, ASU has embedded specialized zones across metro Phoenix, aligning research strengths with industry clusters.
