LaPour Partners advances $200 million plan to convert vacant Phoenix office tower into 340-room JW Marriott

Las Vegas-based LaPour Partners is advancing a $200 million adaptive reuse project in downtown Phoenix, Arizona, converting a vacant 19-story, 351,600 sq ft office tower at the Arizona Center into a 340-room JW Marriott^[1]. The building sits at 400 East Van Buren Street, half a block from the Phoenix Convention Center. Interior demolition is expected to begin in early 2027, with construction following later that year and the hotel targeted to open in 2029.

The building and the conversion case

The tower was completed in 1990 and features 13-foot floor-to-floor heights and floor-to-ceiling glass windows - characteristics that make the adaptive reuse financially viable. The existing design lends itself to an average room size of more than 500 sq ft, a figure that would be difficult to achieve in a ground-up build at comparable cost. Floors 18 and 19 will feature meeting and event spaces with panoramic views.

Planned amenities include:

• A resort-style inground pool overlooking the Arizona Center's 1.5-acre grotto
• A spa, fitness center, and signature restaurant
• A ballroom and approximately 15,000 sq ft of indoor meeting space, plus 2,542 sq ft of outdoor event space
• An exclusive club lounge on the upper floors^[1]

LJC is the architect, with Lonney and Associates providing interior design services.

Arizona Center's broader revival

The project is embedded in a wider turnaround at the Arizona Center. The mixed-use development declined over the past decade before investor Daryl Burton's Reliance Management acquired it for $27 million in 2023; since then, retail on the second and third floors has reached full occupancy with new food anchors.

The site sits adjacent to a convention campus that generated more than 351,000 hotel room nights and approximately $454 million in direct visitor spending in 2025, and a planned 240,000 sq ft expansion is expected to further increase visitation and demand for premium hotel accommodations. The JW Marriott would sit directly across from the 1,000-room Sheraton Phoenix Downtown and would become the third JW Marriott-branded property in the Phoenix metro, joining hotels in north Phoenix and Paradise Valley.

Developer's Phoenix track record

The project is LaPour's fourth hotel development in the Phoenix area since the early 2020s; its local portfolio includes the AC Hotel Phoenix Downtown, also at the Arizona Center. In the second quarter of 2026, Marriott reported RevPAR gains driven by luxury and resort hotels, with luxury RevPAR up more than 9% year over year, Marriott CEO Anthony Capuano said during an earnings call - a tailwind that supports the brand's appetite for new luxury inventory in undersupplied markets.

The project remains in design and pre-development. The key milestones to watch are the start of interior demolition in early 2027, which will confirm financing is in place, and whether the Phoenix Convention Center's planned 240,000 sq ft expansion advances on a timeline that aligns with the hotel's 2029 opening.