I originally conservatively estimated the taxpayers would be screwed out of $28 to $42 million.
A lot of people like to call the members of the Phoenix city council incompetent morons who couldn't run a business if they had to.
Personally I dasgree. Sure I hate those *sshole, but they are not stupid morons. I think they are very smart crooks who used their position as elected officials to screw us out of the $45 to $50, which probably went to special interest groups that bribed them. Did I say bribed, I am sorry, I meant gave them campaign contributions.
http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/phoenix/2016/02/03/phoenix-approves-sale-downtown-sheraton-hotel/79761466/
Phoenix approves sale of downtown Sheraton hotel
Brenna Goth, The Republic | azcentral.com 6:27 p.m. MST February 3, 2016
Phoenix will accept a $300 million offer to sell the Sheraton Grand Phoenix hotel to a private owner, in a deal council members said will stop the city's financial losses.
Council members voted 8-0 Wednesday to accept the proposal from TLG Phoenix, an affiliate of the national investment firm Thayer Lodging Group. Councilman Jim Waring did not vote but said he supported the sale.
The approval comes more than a year after Phoenix started preparing to sell the state's largest hotel. Phoenix financed construction of the 1,000-room Sheraton as part of a controversial decision to bolster downtown development infrastructure, particularly for the nearby convention center.
The city owns the hotel and pays a management fee to Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide Inc. for its operation.
But the Sheraton opened in the midst of the Great Recession and struggled to make money, prompting some council members to push for a sale to the private sector. City staff members estimate total losses of about $45 to $50 million on the hotel when the transaction is completed in June.
Phoenix previously had reported losses of $29 million since the hotel opened in 2008. Roughly $3 million more will go toward closing the sale.
The city also provided the hotel corporation with about $14 million over the past decade that was expected to be returned through hotel operations, according to Denise Olson, the city's chief financial officer. Phoenix will forgo recouping that money to accept the offer, she said.
Council members said they were pleased with TLG's offer, considering the city recently estimated it could sell the hotel for about $225 to $250 million. Councilman Michael Nowakowski said in a statement that the sale was a "vote of confidence" for downtown and will stop the city's financial risk moving forward.
But others were critical of the loss taken on the hotel to rid Phoenix of the obligation.
“I’m pleased as punch we’re getting this off the books,” said Waring, adding, “We never should have got into this in the first place."
Under the new ownership deal, Phoenix will continue to hold the land at Third and Van Buren streets. The land must remain a hotel under the agreement, unless the city approves a different use.
City real estate can be leased or sold by negotiation instead of through the traditional proposal process, according to Jeremy Legg, special projects manager for the Phoenix Convention Center.
The city will lease TLG the land for $1 a year for 99 years. The land will not be taxed, as it remains in city ownership, Legg said in an email. TLG also will receive the city’s $10 million fund for hotel improvements.
Arizona Republic reporter Dustin Gardiner contributed reporting to this article.