Hyatt Hotels Corporation has announced plans to bring a Hyatt Regency-branded property to downtown Tucson by taking over a tower that has stood empty for more than a decade. In partnership with HSL Properties and Desert Hospitality Management, the company will redevelop the former Hotel Arizona tower into the Hyatt Regency Tucson Convention Center, with an expected opening in late 2027.
The vacant Tucson hotel tower Hyatt Regency is set to take over, shown here in late-afternoon light as redevelopment plans move forward.
The building, known historically as the Hotel Arizona, has been unoccupied since 2012. Under the new agreement, the tower will undergo an extensive, multi-million-dollar transformation to position it as a full-service convention and business hotel serving Tucson’s urban core. The renovation will repurpose the existing structure rather than build anew, updating interiors and guest offerings to meet Hyatt Regency standards.
Plans for the reimagined property call for 291 guestrooms and suites designed to accommodate a mix of leisure travelers, business visitors and convention attendees. The hotel will feature a fitness center and what developers are calling an elevated pool experience, additions intended to broaden amenity options available to guests while supporting the property’s role as a hub for events and extended-stay visitors.
A major component of the conversion is the creation of approximately 22,000 square feet of flexible meeting and event space. That total includes a large ballroom and a series of breakout rooms intended to host conferences, banquets and smaller business gatherings. With the hotel sitting steps from the Tucson Convention Center and other performance and sports venues, developers are positioning the property as a complementary facility to the city’s existing event infrastructure.
The tower’s location places it within easy walking distance of multiple downtown cultural and entertainment sites. It sits close to the Tucson Convention Center complex and is within blocks of the Linda Ronstadt Music Hall, the Leo Rich Theater and the Tucson Arena, locations that draw both local and regional crowds for performances, exhibitions and sporting events. The proximity to those venues figures into the hotel’s expected role as a destination for meetings, conventions and event-related overnight stays.
HSL Properties and Desert Hospitality Management will collaborate with Hyatt Hotels Corporation on the management and redevelopment of the property. While specific financial terms were not disclosed, the parties have characterized the work as an extensive multi-million-dollar renovation aimed at bringing the structure back into active hotel use after years of vacancy. Construction and fit-out are planned to prepare the property for the late-2027 opening timeline.
The conversion of the long-idle tower into a Hyatt Regency marks the first Hyatt Regency-branded hotel in Tucson. Once completed, the project will add a nationally recognized flag to the city’s hospitality mix and increase downtown lodging capacity with a property tailored to the convention and meeting market. The redevelopment is one element of ongoing activity in Tucson’s central business district, where investors and operators have pursued projects aimed at supporting downtown events and cultural venues.
Work to ready the building for its new role will include interior reconfiguration to support the guestroom count and meeting spaces outlined in the plans, as well as upgrades to public areas and service infrastructure to meet contemporary hotel standards. The inclusion of significant event space is intended to make the property competitive for group business alongside existing downtown hotels and the convention center itself.
With an anticipated late-2027 debut, the Hyatt Regency Tucson Convention Center will aim to open its doors in time to participate in the region’s event calendar. The project represents a reuse of an existing downtown asset that has been out of operation since 2012, returning the tower to active service with a new national-branded hotel operator and local development and management partners.
The redevelopment is estimated to cost $66.9 million over 18 months and create approximately 200 jobs, per a 2024 economic analysis by Applied Economics. The City of Tucson renewed tax incentives in 2024 to support the long-planned revival of the vacant Hotel Arizona, as detailed by AZ Luminaria.
Hyatt’s June 30, 2026 press release names Sundt Construction as the project’s general contractor, Swaim Associates as the architect, and Offay Design Studio as the interior design and FF&E partner for the conversion.
City records and reporting identify the site as 181 W. Broadway Blvd. in downtown Tucson and show the property is owned by Pueblo Center Partners; the approved lease requires the developer to convey the property to the City of Tucson and lease it back for an eight-year period.
Under the city’s lease deal, developers would be exempt from roughly $4.8 million in property taxes over the lease term, the city’s analysis says, and the City of Tucson estimated it would receive about $12.8 million in local tax revenue during the lease with an ongoing projected $2 million per year in direct property, sales and bed tax revenues thereafter.
The Hotel Arizona tower was originally built in 1973, according to local reporting and city documents.