The long-awaited (and much-needed) remodel of Downtown's Lexington Hotel will be a little longer than expected.
Hotel representatives announced that they'll be revamping and re-opening at the end summer 2012, and will run business as usual until December 19.
The hotel's been home to Poolside Gallery, a resident studio space/gallery for local artists Kyle Jordre and Jenny Ignaszewski, and Cycle, a pop-up restaurant, since April.
Lexington's Deanna Montalbano says both Poolside and Cycle will remain open and functioning until December, and that the hotel's plans for art and dining are currently in the works.
Montalbano says the development team behind the new concept decided to delay the Lexington's closing and reopening so that the estimated six-month remodel would be completed closer to when Phoenix's tourist season picks up (during September and October).
Most of the future plans and blueprints are under wraps and undergoing copywright and trademark approval. So no word on the hotel's new name, or overall concept. But Montalbano says one of the hotel's main inspirations is the art-focused 21 C in Lexington, Kentucky, which houses a large art gallery with rotating exhibitions and a staff curator.
The model room will be under construction in the next few weeks, and will soon open to the public for a preview of the overall layout and themes by Hollywood-based designer, Thomas Shoos (also behind the Atrium in Las Vegas, as well as the Huntley Hotel, Hotel Frank, and Hotel Vertigo in California).
The project will be a joint effort of Phoenix-based Habitat Metro (Tim Sprague, John Hill and Feliciano Vera), California-based hospitality group Bond HD LLC, and San Diego-based real-estate development firm McKinney Capital Group LLC.
The Lexington Hotel is at 1100 North Central Ave. in Phoenix. For more information, check out the Lexington website.
