The Planning and Zoning Commission conducted a conceptual review for a planned renovation and rebranding of the Best Western Arroyo Roble in Uptown on Oct. 1. The renovation would include the construction of a new restaurant, pool area and 23 casita-type units made from shipping containers on the hotel’s property behind the existing hotel tower and the Sedona Arts Center’s Art Barn.

Planning Manager Cari Meyer explained to the commission that the vacant parcel is allowed eight lodging units per acre, for a maximum of 23, while the current hotel is allowed 61 units.

“We did not see anything that was raising a red flag,” Meyer said of staff’s initial review of the proposal. “There were no significant comments regarding building designs. We had some questions about providing cross-access between some of the uses … nothing that we don’t think can be addressed if they move forward.”

Meyer also noted that the expansion plans included “significantly” more parking than required “because they want to continue to provide some parking for the Art Barn.” A total of 117 spaces would be required for the proposed number of rooms; 146 are planned.

“I’ve had a lot of crazy ideas for this site. What you’re seeing today is, I think, appropriate,” said Randy McGrane, a partner in Ensemble Investments, which owns the hotel. “We’ve let a design kind of evolve” out of community interaction. He added that they had considered and abandoned a number of larger-scale ideas involving numerous “public good” elements in order to focus on creating a design that would allow them to obtain the number of units allowed by code.

Architect Michael Marcoux of March Design Group said that each casita unit will consist of two repurposed shipping containers “to create a sandblasted element that will fit within the landscape.”

“Each of those casitas is going to be fully solar-powered,” Marcoux said. “All of these are proposed to be off-grid as far as electrical. We would love to take them off-grid as far as sewer and water, but we’ve discovered that guests, if they need to have prior understanding of any unique situation, like a composting toilet or a incinerator toilet, which is actually standard with these products, it doesn’t go well. So we are proposing that it’s still going to stay on sewer.”

“They are built in Phoenix while we’re doing construction, and they are delivered and installed in about a month,” McGrane said. “We’re going to try to keep the hotel open this entire time.”

Commissioner Kali Gajewski asked about current City Code provisions dealing with shipping containers.

“The Land Development Code would say ‘no’ to just like dropping a shipping container on a property,” Meyer said. “What they’re doing, they’ll have to meet building code requirements … but if they can meet all those requirements, they’ll be allowed.”

“I’ve been waiting for somebody to use storage containers, and I’m so excited to see them once they’re in place,” Vice Chairwoman Charlotte Hosseini said.

McGrane added that the container units are designed to recover graywater, which will be reused on site, and that they are not planned to sit on concrete foundations. “They are pinned to the ground on galvanized,” McGrane said. “Water can flow under them.” The cost for one of the units in an off-grid configuration is about $184,000.

The remainder of the renovation, Marcoux said, will include construction of an arts plaza to be used in coordination with SAC’s events, “creating more of a destination to the north side of the town”; a “full renovation of the existing tower”; the replacement of the old pool with a new one in a different location; reworking the porte-cochere; and the addition of an event deck on the roof with telescopes for stargazing. The sloped parking spaces will remain asphalt, while the level parking “is all going to be permeable.”

“We have one of the last original Jordan apple trees there,” McGrane said. “We’re sad to say it’s beyond — in real estate terms, it’s a fully depreciated asset. It’s not coming back. But they explained to us that because it’s dying, it shot off shoots, so they cut a bunch of them, 65 of them … we will still have original Jordan apple trees here.”

Commissioners asked about employee housing.

“We looked at different plans were we would build a bunch of workforce housing,” McGrane said. “What we decided is density’s not a good idea, so we’ll put just the units there and make a large contribution into the fund.”

Although McGrane told the commission he had agreed on a preliminary number for the hotel’s in-lieu contribution to the city’s housing fund with city staff, he did not disclose the number.

Commissioner Sarah Wiehl asked about a space on the plans that was described as a “bridge landing.”

“There have been multiple discussions about continuing that bridge [at Wayside Chapel] across the highway, so they are leaving a space on their site where that could come,” Meyer said.

“If that bridge came across, it would be an incredibly important feature that people would notice,” McGrane said. “You’re creating this pedestrian loop … I think that’s a really important feature the city should consider.”

“I’d really like to see if SAC is getting what it wants,” Chairwoman Kathy Levin commented.

“I really liked the amphitheater idea the most, but that was left on the cutting room floor,” SAC Executive Director Julie Richard said. “That said, I’m very excited about this plan … I urge you to support their proposal for expansion.”

McGrane also told the commission that as part of the renovation, they intend to rebrand the establishment as the “Hotel Sedona.”

“That name is available; we think it’s unique to Uptown,” McGrane said. “We are in continued discussion.”