A new lifestyle hotel is headed to downtown Phoenix in spring 2016 with the renovation of the former Lexington Hotel.
The FOUND:RE Hotel will be a 104-room boutique, art-themed hotel, according to a press release, and will be located on the northwest corner of Portland Street and Central Avenue. The developers are Habitat Metro, the company that developed Portland Place’s Portland on the Park condominiums, and BOND Partners, developers of several lifestyle hotels and resorts.
Local curator Mike Oleskow will lead the hotel’s art component, which will source artwork from local artists to create a contemporary collection intended to complement and inspire the hotel’s décor and guest programming.
“My vision, while big in scope, is to put downtown Phoenix and its many talented artists in the best possible light I can,” Oleskow said.
Oleskow has been a downtown Phoenix resident for several years and is a former gallery owner of Max & Lucy, former president of Artlink Phoenix, director of After Hours Gallery and curator for a number of other shows in Phoenix. Oleskow hopes to move away from the methods of a conventional art exhibition.
“To me, it is about creating an experience, something tangible that stirs feelings within you,” he said.
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The hotel is aiming to take inspiration from contemporary culture, music and fashion and incorporate it into the guest rooms, gallery ballrooms and cultural programming, according to the press release.
The FOUND:RE Hotel could be an investment to the growth of Phoenix’s creative capital, said Phoenix resident and arts-scene patron Roman Russo.
“Because the hotel is in the Roosevelt Row district, which seems to be the growing center of the art scene here in Phoenix, I suppose this hotel could have some draw and be a benefit for that,” Russo said. “But we are going from small, locally owned art shops to this big hotel, that could kind of shift it to this corporate atmosphere, so it could help or it could hinder, who knows?”
Oleskow said he expects the hotel to benefit downtown beyond the local art scene.
“In addition to providing several venues for artists to show and sell their work and for visitors and locals to enjoy, it also provides a dynamic space in an already thriving downtown arts scene,” he said.
Contact the reporter at nisreen.mandviwala@asu.edu.
