Glendale’s Crystal Lagoons gets new owner and plans to double hotel rooms to become Arizona’s largest hotel

The enormous resort underneath building in the vicinity of the NFL stadium in Glendale has a new proprietor, a new identify and will be more substantial than initially prepared.

The hotel and seashore resort, at first dubbed Crystal Lagoons, will develop from 48 to 60 acres and be named VAI Resort. The advancement, purchased by VAI Vacation resort LLC from the business Crystal Lagoons, is south of Point out Farm Stadium concerning Loop 101 and 95th Avenue.

The project will be the initially for the Arizona-dependent VAI Resort that shaped at the get started of this 12 months and is led by president Grant Fisher.

A 7-acre body of drinking water will anchor the challenge with sandy white beach locations. Business officials say it is not a water park, due to the fact it is not going to include things like water slides.

The town touts the job as Arizona’s biggest hotel, at much more than 1,200 rooms on 8 stories. That is nearly double the 630 rooms originally planned. By comparison, the 31-tale downtown Phoenix Sheraton resort has 1,000 rooms. In Glendale, the close by Renaissance resort at Westgate has 320 rooms.

The venture will incorporate a 360-diploma live performance phase the place resort attendees can watch reveals from their balconies, a 52,000-square-foot, guy-produced island in the middle of its seashore and 13 places to eat.

“From the vibes of Mykonos and Tulum, to the seashores of Miami, to the live shows and events of Las Vegas, to the ultra-modern day sights of Dubai, we’re bringing the most effective of the best to VAI Resort suitable below in the coronary heart of Glendale,” Fisher claimed in a information release about Tuesday’s announcement.

The task is set to open in late spring 2023, soon after the Tremendous Bowl in Glendale. It is expected to carry 1,800 work, according to the town.

Glendale Metropolis Council customers cheered the updates at a public assembly on Tuesday.

“The simple fact that this challenge has taken on a everyday living of its individual, I hope this council (and) most people is as enthusiastic as I am,” Mayor Jerry Weiers mentioned. “Many cities will not get this opportunity at any time, in their full existence.”

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What is VAI Vacation resort?

The Town Council authorised “Crystal Lagoons” in 2020, casting the project as a way to entice visitors to Glendale in the summer time, when tourism lulls.

The resort is expected to host 100 events on a yearly basis, like “A-list performers, comedians and top rated of the line DJs,” in accordance to one particular of the builders.

VAI Vacation resort, which procured the growth from Crystal Lagoon, was fashioned this yr by Grant and Tommy Fisher of Fisher Industries, a “significant civil design” corporation, according to the company’s website.

The Fishers were at first contracted to do the job on developing Crystal Lagoon but time beyond regulation “felt it was in the ideal interest of all the parties to do a change in ownership,” Metropolis Manager Kevin Phelps advised The Arizona Republic.

Phelps has formerly claimed the resort would support build Glendale’s track record as a desired destination for mega functions. The city will host its third Super Bowl following yr and the NCAA Closing Four in 2024.

VAI Vacation resort will consist of:

• A 7-acre h2o way with sandy white beaches.

• A 52,000-square foot male-designed island.

• A 360-degree concert stage.

• Far more than 1,200 hotel rooms.

• 170 phase-dealing with lodge rooms.

• A 20,000-sq. foot spa and wellness center.

• A marriage ceremony chapel.

• A substantial helium balloon that will choose site visitors nearly 400 feet into the air for an aerial view of the Phoenix location.

• Aerophile’s Aerobar, a place that will present foodstuff and beverages at 130 toes in the air, giving clients a superior-up perspective of the Valley.

• A 4D theater and a “fly theater,” similar to the “Soarin’ All over the Planet” ride in Disney’s California Experience concept park.

• Luxurious retail retailers.

The vacation resort also will include a Mattel-branded topic park with Hot Wheels and Thomas the Tank Motor points of interest.

It will be “intended as a actually immersive playground for all ages,” the announcement says.

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How substantially drinking water will it use?

Thoughts in excess of incoming developments’ h2o utilization in Arizona have loomed huge amid the historic 2022 Colorado River shortage.

The city final year approximated Crystal Lagoons would use fewer drinking water than the farm fields it is changing. The Republic claimed at the time that the progress planned to fill the 11-acre park with 19.6 million gallons of drinking water, moreover another 17 million per year to include evaporation.

It is unclear how Tuesday’s announcement variations the expected drinking water usage.

City waived $1M in expenses for developer

Glendale earlier agreed to waive $1 million in permitting fees and give the theater, resort, retail spaces and concession suppliers a “partial” 25-calendar year Government Residence Lease Excise Tax, known as a GPLET, which lowers the total a developer would otherwise pay out in property tax.

Town leaders at the time pointed to the income and lodge taxes that visitors will bring, projecting its share would be $240.5 million about the 25-year arrangement.

Venture will will need council’s ‘OK’

The Town Council ultimately will have to approve an amended advancement agreement and modified zoning designation that incorporates extra land on the western and jap edges of the task.

VAI Resort also needs to erect five substantial video display panels during the location. The screens could probably display dwell footage of the live shows that could be viewed by resort friends or drivers passing by on Loop 101.

Phelps mentioned council also may perhaps have to take into account how the project’s gentle, seem and site visitors will have an impact on the bordering places, even though he did not specify what the thought would entail.

The council users signaled unanimous guidance for upcoming votes when talking about the undertaking Tuesday.

The zoning request will initial be listened to by the city’s Arranging and Zoning Commission. The day has not been established nonetheless, city officials claimed.

Councilmember Joyce Clark praised the project but explained the city must admit the effects to residents just east of the project.

The house owners there stay on unincorporated Maricopa County land ruled by the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors but could be influenced if the project’s new owners seek out to transform the easternmost land from parking a lot to a various use.

“Who’s likely to have a challenge with parking? But if it turns into one thing that’s going to make an abnormal quantity of sound, I believe we want to be incredibly sensitive about that,” Clark claimed.

Reporter Joshua Bowling contributed to this report.

Arrive at reporter Taylor Seely at [email protected] or 480-476-6116. Adhere to her on Twitter @taylorseely95 or Instagram @taylor.azc. If this story mattered to you, you should assistance our perform. Subscribe to azcentral.com these days.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Crystal Lagoons receives new proprietor, new identify and designs to double resort rooms