Chandler corner to get hotel, shops

A corner in Chandler that once hosted high-tech manufacturing facilities will soon sprout a five-story, 165-room hotel and stores.

Tempe-based Armstrong Development Properties is already transforming the southwest corner of Chandler Boulevard and Dobson Road into a 14-acre center with offices, restaurants and a CVS Pharmacy.

Portico Place will feature one of Valley’s first Cambria Suites hotel, a chain launched in January 2005 by Choice Hotels International.

Construction on Cambria Suites is scheduled to start in mid-November, developers said.

Cambria officials say their guest rooms are about 25 percent larger than typical hotel rooms and feature free wireless Internet service, flat-screen TVs, and a CD and DVD player with MP3 hookups.

Other features include barista bars, a full-service restaurant and a 24-hour food store selling sandwiches and salads.

“(It’s) really for today’s generation of travelers, people who take their lifestyles with them when they travel, people who are interested in technology (and) want the latest amenities,” said David Peikin, Choice Hotels spokesman.

The CVS and 14,000 square-feet of retail stores also will open at Portico Place sometime in November, officials said.

Work on the first of two office buildings will be completed sometime in early 2009.

“Dunkin’ Donuts will be taking a suite with a drive-through,” said Chuck Gibson, the center’s retail broker. “We’re working with four or five other restaurant uses (but) it’s premature right now to mention the brands because we’re not at lease yet. We feel like those are the best compliments for the hotel and office components.”

Martin Hedstrom, Armstrong’s real estate manager, said businesses at Portico Place will enjoy a flock of high-earning workers from firms like semi-conductor manufacturers Microchip Technologies Inc. and Rogers Corp. Chandler Regional Hospital is directly south of Portico Place, and Chandler Fashion Center is about two miles to the west.

“You’ve got 40,000-plus cars a day at the intersection,” Gibson said. “It’s a good retail intersection.”

The site is one of several older industrial areas of Chandler that has seen increased developer interest as property values increased.

Hedstrom said property values have remained roughly unchanged despite turmoil in the housing market and a declining economy.