Hotel San Carlos wants an upgrade
After owning the Hotel San Carlos for nearly 40 years the Melikian family of Phoenix Arizona is looking to take their historic hotel to a whole new level. It seems the Melikians have dreams of transforming the historic Hotel San Carlos, located in downtown Phoenix, into a high-rise hotel that would include such amenities as a virtual-reality water park, shark aquarium, sports bar, and spa. Their goal is to have local athletes and celebrities flood the hotel for its luxury sports bar, amazing views of the city, and yes, the indoor waterfalls.
However, to get all these lofty ideas accomplished they have quietly approached city officials in an attempt to gain support for the $120 million redevelopment deal. If they can drum up enough support for the Hotel San Carlos face lift they will also have to get their plan approved by the Phoenix Historic Preservation Office. Two-thirds of the building is protected by historic zoning and cannot be redeveloped.
The city's lead historic-preservation planner, Kevin Weight, has said that building on top of the downtown's last historic hotel would change the Hotel San Carlos' character.
"We would not be likely to support any project that was built on top of the main hotel building or that really encroached on the hotel building in a negative way," he said. "The idea is to preserve the historic architectural character of the building, and when you've got a 36-story appendage, that is probably going to be tough."
