Towering Remi Hotel anchors party district Article originally posted on HERE on June 23, 2025 Nearby development – for one, the towering Remi Hotel, opening soon – is an almost-forgotten footnote to a debate raging in Scottsdale: Where to put a new Old Town parking garage. Those pushing for Scottsdale City Council to continue a plan to expand “The Corral” parking lot at First Street and Brown Avenue point to the fall, winter and spring – when befuddled tourists and grumbling residents circle traditional Old Town, hunting for free parking. Not so, this time of year. When the temperature races past 110, Old Town becomes Ghost Town. That’s ammunition for Mayor Lisa Borowsky, who has led an uprising in the latest skirmishes of “the parking wars.” The First and Brown garage met no opposition when it was approved last summer, nor mentioned on the campaign trail. But since she took office in January, Borowsky has been leading a charge for alternate plans and sites. In the wake of a petition backing her Corral challenge, the mayor is demanding a new study to see if another Old Town parking lot is needed at all. In contrast to the shouts in favor of and opposed to the First and Brown parking plan, stifled yawns met the approval of a “twin garage” just a few blocks north. According to a July 1, 2024, council presentation, the northern garage will be built on two existing city parking lots between Sixth Avenue and Stetson Drive. This area is technically is within the city’s “Old Town” boundaries, but is in the northeast “Entertainment District” quadrant. The capacity of the new two-story garage will be 272 spaces, more than doubling the current 128 spaces currently at the lots on either side of Sixth Avenue between Wells Fargo Avenue and Civic Center Plaza. That puts it two blocks from the not-yet-open Remi Hotel – which does not have on-site parking. But Shawn Yari insisted, “We won’t be using (the city garage) for the hotel.” Shawn and his brother Steven launched the nearby W Hotel in 2008. “When we built the W, we overparked it,” Shawn said. “Uber and ride share wasn’t a thing … But now, a large portion of our customers use ride share. The need for parking was diminished.” He said valet drivers will park Remi guest cars in a 22-space lot next door and then utilize up to 60 spaces at the W. And if those fill up, he noted, there’s the nearby Galleria garage “with 2,200 spaces.” Hot fun in the summertime With door-to-door bars and mini clubs, the action in the Entertainment District stays hot in the summer as college kids on break no longer have early classes to put the brakes on their partying. This summer, Shawn and Steven Yari and their Stockdale Capital Partners/Riot Hospitality Group are continuing their aggressively “transformational” vision for the Entertainment District. The Yaris’ Riot Hospitality Group already runs the booming Cake, Dierks Bentley’s Whiskey Row, El Hefe and Maya Day and Nightclub. Now, 17 years after launching the W Hotel, the Yaris are drawing back the curtain on their biggest Scottsdale project to date: The Remi Hotel. Running two hotels so close seems a little … competing with yourself? Shawn Yari chuckled at that suggestion. “You can look at it both ways,” he said. “But it’s a synergy benefit more than competitiveness.” The Remi Hotel is not a standalone, but part of the Yaris’ game plan. “This is absolutely part of the chess game,” Shawn Yari said. “We had a grand vision for this quadrant many years ago – kicked off by the development of the W.” With a rueful laugh, he said the W opened “on the eve of the economic meltdown.” The recession led the Yaris to shift from mega projects to “getting with our peers and doing fun restaurants and bars. “But the vision has always been a hospitality district, mixed use district.” With the economic tide shifting, and the Riot Hospitality business booming, the Yaris decided to shift back to their original masterplan. Four years ago, the Scottsdale Development Review Board unanimously approved – with recusals from board members Jeff Brand and Ali Fakih – plans for a 163-room hotel on East Indian Plaza and Buckboard Lane, smack in the throbbing heart of the Entertainment District. Next to the Maya Day/Nightclub, the hotel was originally to be called the Maya Hotel. Where does the new name come from? “It’s short for reminisce,” Yari said. “The feel of the hotel is going to a time where people didn’t have heads in their phones when they are being entertained … Our hope is they get their heads out of their phones and live the moment.” The initial pitch from the developer’s 2020 application: “The largest owner of real estate in the area, Stockdale Capital, is looking to evolve and mature the greater Entertainment District-area into a mixed-use district.” Two crucial notes to the Development Review Board’s staff report: “The site is part of the recently approved Scottsdale Collection zoning case … which is a larger planned development that includes this site and approximately 10 additional acres in the Entertainment District.” “All parking is proposed to be provided off‐site.” Another delay April 16 email from a promoter: “I’m excited to share news of Scottsdale’s most anticipated summer opening: The Remi Scottsdale, Autograph Collection, is now accepting reservations for June 2025.” Well, June is melting away … Those trying to book a room at the Remi this month see: “Opening Soon July 2025.” Stockdale owns a dozen hotels in the Valley and California, but this one is a little different – with a unique set of challenges. “We had some construction issues – it caused some delays,” Shawn Yari said. “When you’re building a high-end hotel … everything is custom. It took longer to execute than we anticipated.” The finish line is near for the Remi, Yari promised: “We’ll be open early next month.” The earliest online reservation: July 21. Rates for that night start at $216 – rocketing up to $744 per night for a “hospitality suite” and $1,234 nightly for the “presidential suite.” Both spacious rooms – the hospitality is 1,200 square feet, the presidential suite just over 1,400 square feet – come with balconies. But if you want to stay the first weekend of September, the hospitality suite books for $2,913 per night and the presidential suite $5,533 per night. The ultimate “party night” stay? New Year’s Eve rates start at $420 per room, up to $3,188 for the hospitality suite and $5,883 for the top-of-Scottsdale room. The original plan was for the Maya/Remi to open by New Year 2023. As Boyce O’Brien of Scottsdale Partners wrote to then-City Manager Jim Thompson in mid-2021: “As discussed, in order for Hotel Maya to be open in time for the 2023 Superbowl (sic), it is imperative that we pull permits and start construction in July.” This, of course, is hardly the first Old Town project to have a long delay. Over the last decades, various city councils approved more than a dozen towering projects around Old Town. Some, like Caesars Republic next to Fashion Square, are up and running. A few, such as the Kimsey on Indian School Road, are under construction. Others, including the nine-story Winfield Hotel, have yet to break ground. According to Beth Brainard, general manager of the Remi Hotel, this spot will be worth the wait: “The Remi will be the heartbeat of the Entertainment District’s next evolution and deliver a new standard of luxury hospitality to this vibrant destination.” Advanced publicity promises “this boutique-style hotel will feature 161 meticulously curated guest rooms, including two loft suites featuring patios that open to the hotel’s pool deck.” Hotel guests also will enjoy “VIP entry to Maya Day + Nightclub, luxurious Côte Beauty amenities, plush robes and postcards to reminisce on their stay.” While other Scottsdale hotels are geared to business people, this one is pitching those looking for fun: “Whether you’re a vacationer chasing the vibe, a bachelor or bachelorette group seeking next-level celebration, or a leisure traveler blending boardroom with bottle service, the Remi offers a stay like no other.” On-site restaurants include Kauboi, a Japanese steakhouse; F/Sixteen, “the modern diner reimagined”; and Allegra, the rooftop pool’s bar that promises “curated cocktails, fresh beats and Scottsdale’s most scenic sunset views.” For more information or to book a room reservation, visit marriott.com/phxda. Guaranteeing a “bold, sensory-driven experience,” the newest Entertainment District venue is pretty bold in its claims: “The Remi is set to redefine luxury hospitality in the city.” The Scottsdale Collection Even after this hotel opens, the Yaris are far from done with their “transformational vision” for Old Town. The massive, unprecedented Scottsdale Collection was approved by a razor-thin 4-3 council vote Dec. 7, 2020. Current Councilwomen Solange Whitehead and Kathy Littlefield cast two of the three votes against the project. After submitting design plans three years later, Stockdale Capital submitted a revised version to the city last month. According to the narrative, “The City Center project is part of the Scottsdale Collection rezoning.” Scottsdale City Center is at the southeast corner of Camelback Road and Scottsdale Road, across from Fashion Square and at the entrance of the Entertainment District. The Yaris’ plan for the 3-acre site: “The project is a mixed-use project of ground-level retail, restaurants, a residential tower with top-tier amenities, and a flexible public plaza.” The narrative immodestly vows to “activate the plaza day and night to bring a new paradigm of mixed-use to Scottsdale.” Those who are against more density in Scottsdale may line up to oppose the City Center plan of “two, 10-level towers of residential units comprising approximately 138 two, and three-bedroom units.” The project includes a six-level parking garage, with two levels underground. The next step for City Center: The Scottsdale Development Review Board will review the application at a meeting to be determined. “Our goal is to start construction the second quarter of next year … with a 30-month build,” Shawn Yari said. He and his older brother plan “very high end” shops and restaurants – and “the residential component will hopefully be the highest end in the market.” The plan is for the 138 spacious units to be “100% condos.” And so the Yari brothers are strategically moving their chess pieces on the Entertainment District board. After growing up in New York, Shawn Yari enjoyed the California beach lifestyle while attending Malibu’s Pepperdine University. “I visited Scottsdale in 1992 and ’93, and thought ‘I love this place and want to move here.’” Three decades ago, Old Town was fairly quiet and the Entertainment District position of it just a dream. “My vision,” Shawn Yari said, “has always been to have a hospitality district on par with some of the best cities in the world.”