(Editor’s note: Opinion pieces are published for discussion purposes only.)
By Bob Robb | The Republic
The City of Phoenix’s adventure in the hotel business has obviously been a fiasco. But the fiasco is actually much deeper than commonly understood, and radiates from the city to engulf the entire state.
The fullness of the fiasco should be absorbed as a lesson for the future.
The saga begins in 2001, when the city asked voters to approve $300 million in bonds to expand the convention center. The expansion made no sense unless downtown also got a lot of additional hotel rooms. Not to worry, said city officials, if voters approve the expansion, private investors will build the additional rooms.
