By Mark Ambrogi
To David Byrd, it only seems fitting that the Byrd Hotel Group will operate the new hotel in Grand Park.
“This hotel is a natural extension of what we we’re doing in Westfield, Grand Park specifically,” said Byrd, one of two sons of the late Jonathan Byrd. “We are positioning ourselves with four food service operations in Grand Park. We’re extending that hospitality to a hotel structure, which will be adjacent to the indoor soccer facility that is being built.”
They also serve as the title sponsor for the fieldhouse for volleyball and basketball, which will be called the Jonathan Byrd’s Fieldhouse at Grand Park.
Byrd, who lives in Phoenix, said the hotel will be five stories with 180 rooms. Byrd said they are prepping the site now and will start construction when the weather allows, likely late March. Byrd said it will take seven to eight months to build. The Hagerman Group, from Fishers, is the construction company.
“It could possibly be soft branded with a major franchise owner or major hotel company but right now the working title is Grand Park Hotel,” Byrd said. “The reason it’s an independent hotel is the hotel we’ve designed is very much designed to specifically serve the needs of the base Grand Park customers which is sports teams. It’s a hotel that is designed where it doesn’t need to fit any hotel brand category. We’ve designed it from scratch from the ground up. We didn’t rely on anybody’s prototypes.”
The Byrd Hotel Group has five hotels, four are in Arizona and one in southern Utah. Byrd said the hotels are under the flags of IHG, Hilton and Marriott.
“We have another hotel under development which is under the Starwood flag,” Byrd said. “We operate with multiple franchise companies and have nearly 20 years of experience as a hotel owner and operator.”
Byrd said all of the hotels the company builds are from concrete.
“It will be a substantial and robust hotel,” Byrd said. “It’s not a wood-frame hotel. It requires a larger investment on the finance to build the hotel that way but we think it will better serve the clientele.”
There will be a connection to the indoor soccer facility so guests in the hotels won’t have to go outside if their team is playing there.
“It’s been built with 100 percent private funds so there is no taxpayer involvement in the construction of the hotel,” Byrd said.
Byrd said there is a possibility they will open rooms as they are available.
“Since we’re an independent hotel, we can operate with temporary occupancy,” Byrd said. “So we can start operating rooms as the activities go indoor in the late fall or winter time.”
Byrd said the total investment with the hotel and food service operations for the company in Grand Park is approaching $20 million.
“I believe we’re the largest single private developer in and around the Grand Park area,” Byrd said. “We have a firm belief in the benefits that are being created there.”
