The old Oasis Hotel on Grand Avenue is getting a major makeover.
Real estate developer Timothy Sprague (also behind Portland Place Condominiums) and his firm Habitat Metro are behind the $5 million project, which will create 60 affordable live-work spaces for artists and creative types.
"What we envision is that the artists on the bottom floor can turn their living rooms into personal studio-galleries," he says. "I love the idea of seeing a bunch of new galleries opening along Roosevelt open every First Friday."
Sprague says the remodeling will take approximately six to eight months to complete, with a grand opening happening sometime in the late fall.
The Oasis began life as the Caravan Inn West in 1960, one of the many colorful motor hotels that sprung up along Grand Avenue when the thoroughfare was the primary route for motorists to get from Phoenix to Los Angeles or Las Vegas.
It later reopened as the Oasis Hotel in 1971, but fell into serious decline over the next four decades, becoming something a seedy flophouse before closing down in 2007.
Sprague says that several "common area" spaces at the new Oasis will serve as a community-oriented studio and gallery, and there will also be tree-lined courtyard area for special events.
The adjacent Grand Corral restaurant and lounge will also be remodeled simultaneously, although it's currently undecided whether the building will function as an eatery or bar.
Sadly, there are no plans to excavate the old swimming pool that dates back to the property's days as the Caravan Inn West and has since became a parking lot.
"Sorry to say, the swimming pool will stay a thing of the past."
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