The tropical-themed Smuggler's Inn hotel on the city's East Side will be razed to make space for a $50 million senior apartment complex.
The hotel and restaurant, built in 1974, closed its doors on Sunday, said Omar Mireles, executive vice president of HSL Properties, the hotel's owner.
The Red Group, a Scottsdale-based developer, is under contract to buy the property, Mireles said. He declined to say how much the company would pay for the hotel but said the sale is expected to close by the end of October.
The company plans to build 205 apartments for seniors, said Greg Hogan, a principal with the Red Group. The 149-room hotel and an adjacent gas station that is also under contract will be torn down.
The apartments will not offer health care or assisted-living services, Hogan said.
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"We'll have a vast array of amenities for our tenants, including two meals per day, breakfast and dinner. Concierge and a spa. We will have fitness equipment, exercise rooms, a theater, a resort-style swimming pool," Hogan said. "The whole theme will be resort living for the active senior."
Construction on the new apartments, which will all be housed in one large structure, is scheduled to begin in the first quarter of next year. The project, the company's first in Tucson, will cost approximately $50 million, Hogan said.
The project is a joint venture with Phoenix-based Opus West Corp. That company's builder arm, Opus West Construction, will act as general contractor on the project.
HSL bought the hotel in 2002 from Dallas-based MC Hotel Holdings company for about $3.8 million.
Although rezoning is not required, the company still needs to submit a formal development plan, said Jessie Sanders, deputy director of the city Development Services Department.
Ward 2 City Councilwoman Carol West, who represents the area, said the hotel may be missed by several civic groups that held meetings there.
"I'm sure those groups will miss that, but I think this is a new and exciting thing," West said. "We need more senior living facilities. This ward has more seniors than any other ward."
Hogan said Tucson's market calls for more resort-style apartments for seniors, citing company research showing there is pent-up demand here for such housing.
"There are other similar senior communities in the Tucson area and several in the Northwest area of town, all of which are full and have waiting lists," Hogan said.
