If the people are well armed and the members of the Phoenix City Council were afraid of angering the public they would have never traded bribes, oops, I mean campaign contributions for this deal which screwed the taxpayers of Phoenix out of $29 million to $42 million dollars. But don't tell that to the gun grabbing Democrats at the ACLU.
Not only did this deal screw the taxpayers of Phoenix out of $29 million to $42 million, I suspect it put a lot of small hotels out of business who couldn't compete with the government subsidized Phoenix Sheraton Hotel. And cost a lot of large hotel as lot of money when customers stayed at the government subsidized Phoenix Sheraton Hotel instead of their hotels.
[Note the article estimate the taxpayes got screwed out of $29 to $32 million. And when you throw in the $10 million the city of Phoenix is GIVING the buyer of the hotel, that will bring the losses $39 to $42 million. Bend over folks you been screwed by the royal government rulers on the Phoenix city council]
http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/phoenix/2016/02/01/phoenix-finds-buyer-downtown-sheraton-hotel/79650704/
Phoenix finds buyer for downtown Sheraton hotel
Dustin Gardiner, The Republic | azcentral.com 9:32 p.m. MST February 1, 2016
After eight turbulent years in the hotel business, Phoenix has found a buyer for the city-owned Sheraton Grand Phoenix hotel downtown.
TLG Phoenix, an affiliate of Thayer Lodging Group, a national investment firm, has made a cash offer to buy the hotel for $300 million, according to the city. Phoenix made details of the proposed sale public Monday evening. A City Council vote to authorize the deal will take place Wednesday.
The city's decision to finance construction of the Sheraton, which opened its doors at the height of the recession in 2008, has long been controversial. The hotel, the largest in Arizona, has lost at least $29 million, and city officials estimate that number could climb to about $32 million with the sale.
City Council members began calling for Phoenix to get the hotel in the hands of the private sector more than a year ago, and some have said the city irresponsibly put taxpayers at financial risk.
But TLG's offer price was greeted with enthusiasm by city leaders on both sides of the political aisle. Phoenix currently owes about $306 million on the 1,000-room hotel. And previous city estimates suggested the building's value ranged between $175 million and $225 million.
Mayor Greg Stanton, who voted to build the hotel, said the sale price reflects a comeback taking place downtown, where construction is booming and the city has hosted mega-events, such as Super Bowl and College Football Playoff championship festivities.
Stanton and other city officials have defended the city's role in building the hotel, calling it an important piece of "infrastructure" needed to help Phoenix's convention center open.
"Really, it represents just the incredible positive momentum that we have going on in downtown Phoenix right now," Stanton said of the sale. “I think history will show that this was a strong infrastructure investment by the city of Phoenix."
Councilman Bill Gates, who has criticized the city's decision to get into the hotel business, said he was "pleasantly surprised" by the size of the offer, attributing it, in part, to a downtown renaissance. Gates said the deal will get rid of the financial risk Phoenix taxpayers face and put the hotel in the hands of a more seasoned owner.
“As the owner, we’re exposing the taxpayer to the ups and the downs of the business cycle," Gates said. “I just think that this is a business that is better operated by the private sector."
Selling the hotel also could free up money for the city to help build a new downtown arena for the Phoenix Suns, and possibly the Arizona Coyotes, a prospect city leaders have talked about.
Losses from the Sheraton have drained money from the city's sports-facilities fund, which receives tourism tax revenue that could be used to build a new city-owned arena. Without that cash, the city would be hard-pressed to help the basketball team renovate or replace Talking Stick Resort Arena, among the oldest in the NBA.
The city has been preparing to sell the Sheraton for at least a year, as talks about the future of the Suns accelerate.
Under the proposed terms, Phoenix would maintain ownership of the land the hotel sits on, at Van Buren and Third streets. The city would lease the land to the hotel's new owners for $1 per year for the next 99 years, a safeguard that allows the city to ensure it remains a hotel. The buyer would also receive $10 million the city has set aside for hotel renovations. Jeremy Legg, a special projects manager for the Phoenix's nearby convention center, said if the council approves the deal, it should be complete by June 15. In the end, he said, the city likely will recoup its losses on the hotel given it has generated millions of dollars in sales-tax revenue. The city owns the hotel and has an agreement with Sheraton's parent company, Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide Inc., to operate the facility. Phoenix pays Starwood an annual management fee, and the city bears any losses or profits from the hotel. Legg said it's unclear if the hotel will retain the Sheraton brand, saying the buyer, TLG Phoenix, has not indicated either way. TLG Phoenix is a new limited liability corporation managed by Leland Pillsbury, a well-known venture capitalist who specializes in hotel investments. Pillsbury is a chairman of Thayer Lodging Group, a Maryland-based investment subsidiary of Brookfield Asset Management Inc., a publicly-traded company. Pillsbury and a spokesman for Brookfield could not be reached for comment Monday evening.