Rosendin

As the largest hotel in Arizona’s capital city of Phoenix, the 1,000-room, 31-story Sheraton Phoenix Downtown – part of the Marriott chain – is a contemporary site featuring modern lodging; inviting meeting, lounge, and restaurant space; a popular bar and pool terrace; and great views of the downtown area. And thanks to a recent upgrade of its lobby, restaurant space, and other ground-floor common areas by Border states and Independent Electric Supply, along with electrical contracting firm Rosendin, the hotel is now poised to further delight business and recreational visitors while serving as a beautiful reflection of Phoenix’s ongoing growth and position as a major West Coast destination.

“Rosendin has had a long-term relationship with both the Sheraton Phoenix Downtown and general contractor Balfour Beatty Construction. They contacted us in 2019 about doing a complete makeover of the hotel’s lobby and front entrance so that the space was more in line with the Marriott’s design guidelines,” said George Flaherty, Tempe, Arizona-based project manager for Rosendin.

The three-phase project involved upgrades to the 14-year-old hotel’s reception area where guests check in, the main lobby, and its ground-floor restaurant.

“Essentially, everything from floor to ceiling in these areas were gutted to create more open and inviting spaces with comfortable new furniture, decorative lighting, cutting-edge technology/connectivity, and other modern amenities where guests can lounge, meet, and dine,” said Flaherty.

With the hotel’s regular operations all continuing throughout the construction (temporary walls were created at each phase to shield guests from the construction), tight teamwork and precise scheduling were critical to the project from day one.

“The relationship we had with all of the other subcontractors on this project was very important because they were coming behind us and we didn’t want to install something that had to come out later, ” Flaherty said. “It was all about coordinating with the other trades and being problem-solvers to stay on schedule.”

In addition to installing panels and subpanels, rerouting existing circuits, and more, new lighting was a major part of the facility’s cosmetic upgrade. “We replaced all of the previous fluorescent, incandescent, and halogen lighting throughout the space with LEDs, many of which were controllable via low voltage wiring,” said Flaherty. “The lighting was sourced from a handful of different manufacturers and is all controllable via a touchscreen and programmed to dim at certain times, which we worked hard to commission precisely and was a big accomplishment.”

While the project successfully wrapped up in 2021, Flaherty explained that none of it would have been possible without the outstanding support Rosendin received from distributor partners Border States, which provided most of the lighting fixtures and some general products, and Independent Electric Supply, which provided the switchgear.

“The Sheraton upgrade turned out beautiful and our distributors were instrumental in helping this project move along smoothly and successfully,” Flaherty confirmed. “Sometimes the real test of relationship is when things go wrong or issues arise, but it’s a true partnership with our distributors and they proved that if there’s something they can do to help, they’ll do it. We have a lot of trust and they’ve got our back.”