A seven-story, 168-room Marriott Bonvoy Tribute Portfolio hotel is coming to ASU’s Novus Innovation Corridor in Tempe. The hotel will sit at Novus Place and Packard Drive — off University Drive and Rural Road — walking distance from Mountain America Stadium, Mullett Arena, and Desert Financial Arena. It was announced August 14, 2026.
If you live near University Drive and Rural Road, here’s your stake in this
If you drive University Drive or Rural Road daily, plan on construction activity through at least 2027. The hotel is targeted to break ground in the second quarter of that year. It’s aimed to open in the first half of 2029. That overlaps with the ongoing Desert Financial Arena renovation next door.
The longer view matters more. At full buildout, Novus is planned for 10 million square feet of development. It would also include 4,100 residences and 4.5 million square feet of office space. That scale puts steady upward pressure on rents and home values along University Drive and Rural Road. No single hotel moves the needle alone. But this is one more piece of a district projected to bring 40,000 jobs and 5,000 new residents to east Tempe.
For residents hosting out-of-town family during ASU graduation, game days, or concerts, a walkable Marriott is genuinely useful. Right now, guests have one on-site option: the Hyatt. After 2029, they’ll have two.
What’s being built: specs and design
The building will be seven stories and 116,855 square feet. It will carry the Marriott Bonvoy Tribute Portfolio flag. That’s Marriott’s collection of independent-style upscale hotels.
Amenities include a rooftop pool and bar. The hotel will also have 2,700 square feet of meeting space. That’s more than double the largest indoor meeting room at the existing Novus Hyatt, which tops out around 1,227 square feet. That gap puts the new Marriott in position as the corridor’s main small-corporate venue from day one.
AZ Big Media reported the exterior will combine materials with contrasting finishes and textures, with subtle hints of ASU’s campus identity. That’s the only architectural detail released beyond the building’s height.
The new Marriott will sit steps from ASU’s Tempe campus, where the Novus corridor borders the university’s east side. (Arizona State University)
Where it fits in the Novus corridor
Novus is a 355-acre public-private partnership between ASU and master developer Banbury Development. It sits on the east side of the Tempe campus. The hotel goes into the corridor’s Main Street entertainment district.
The master plan calls for roughly 700 to 1,000 total hotel rooms. That target is aimed at Tempe’s estimated 3 million annual visitors. The existing Hyatt brought 259 rooms when it opened in August 2020. This Marriott adds 168. That’s 427 combined — still short of the 700-room floor. More hotel announcements are likely before Novus reaches full buildout.
ASU CFO Dr. Morgan Olsen called the hotel “the next step in realizing our vision of making Novus a destination for residents, visitors and sports fans on game days.” Banbury Development CEO Greg Weaver said the hotel “will also add a new dimension to the development’s unique ecosystem.”
The Hyatt is open now — what to book today versus what’s coming
If you need a room in the Novus corridor right now, the dual-branded Hyatt Place and Hyatt House is your only on-site option. It opened in August 2020 with 259 rooms. It’s bookable today through Hyatt’s website or World of Hyatt rewards.
The Marriott Tribute hotel is still in design and planning. A construction start isn’t expected until Q2 2027 at the earliest. The Marriott won’t be bookable for years.
Game-day geography: how close is the hotel to ASU venues?
The hotel sits in Novus’s Main Street district. It’s within walking distance of all three major ASU venues: Mountain America Stadium, Mullett Arena, and Desert Financial Arena.
The corridor was designed so visitors can walk between venues and hotels without a car. That’s a real advantage on game days when parking is a fight. ASU confirmed a $100 million renovation of Desert Financial Arena running through December 2029. A roughly $35 million football practice facility near Mountain America Stadium is also underway. Both are active during the same window as the hotel’s construction. The area around the new Marriott will look like a construction zone for much of 2027 through 2029.
How this hotel helps fund ASU athletics — the law most stories skip
The hotel sits inside the ASU Athletic Facilities District. That district was created under a 2010 Arizona law, HB 2676. The law lets county supervisors in Maricopa, Coconino, and Pima counties form university athletic facility districts. Those districts can charge an assessment in place of property taxes. The money goes to intercollegiate athletic facilities.
ASU was the first state university in Arizona to use that authority. Ground lease revenues from Novus developments flow directly into ASU athletics funding. That same stream helped fund the $307 million renovation of Mountain America Stadium. Every lease signed in Novus is, in part, a revenue tool for Sun Devil sports.
Who is building it — and why that matters
Okland Construction will handle planning, design coordination, and construction management. Okland is a Tempe-based firm with a direct track record on ASU’s campus. They built College Avenue Commons, which opened in September 2014. It’s a 137,000-square-foot LEED-certified complex that houses multiple ASU engineering and construction programs. They also built the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts student housing and dining complex. That was a seven-story project valued at about $140 million. Both used the CM at Risk model — the same approach Okland is applying here. Okland also built The Global Ambassador hotel in Phoenix.
When construction starts and what the timeline actually tells you
The Q2 2027 construction start and first-half 2029 opening came from Hoodline, citing Orion Investment Real Estate. Orion is a third-party commercial brokerage — not ASU or Banbury Development. Official statements from ASU and Banbury have not confirmed those specific dates. The building is described as currently in design and planning.
That doesn’t mean the dates are wrong. Orion tracks Novus deal activity closely. But treat 2029 as a working estimate from a well-positioned market observer, not an official commitment. If dates shift, the word will come from ASU News or Banbury directly.
What has to happen before you see this hotel open
The building is in design and planning. Construction management is assigned to Okland. No official groundbreaking date has been announced by ASU or Banbury. Based on the Orion timeline, the next visible milestone would be a construction start in Q2 2027. Until ASU or Banbury release that date, the 2029 opening is a projection. Watch ASU News and NovusASU.com for any official update.
