So the REIT admits they needs a zoning change to make the sale to save their bankruptcy, but lo and behold they don't need a zoning change to make it a bus stop for illegal aliens.
This could be stopped in court post-haste if there was any kind of conservative group in Arizona willing to challenge this kind of blatant bullshit. At the minimum a lawsuit would bring out the optix.
AzzRepub, May 28, 2021: "A vacant north Scottsdale hotel is set to start operating temporarily as a detention facility for migrant families, but the property's mortgage holder is battling the plan in court.The former Homewood Suites hotel at Scottsdale and Mountain View roads, which is owned by real estate investment trust Woodbridge Hospitality, has signed an agreement with Endeavors, a nonprofit contracted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. According to the agreement, Endeavors will manage the property until Sept. 30...according to Ben Miranda, a spokesperson for the nonprofit...Endeavors is ready to start operating the property as what he calls an "emergency family station center" for migrants.
Miranda said families would stay at the property for no more than 72 hours. Endeavors will connect the migrants with sponsors in the U.S. and provide them with transportation to the bus station or airport so they can reach their final destination, he said.
The migrants will not be allowed outside of the hotel, and ICE officers will be on the property, according to Miranda.
Woodbridge Hospitality, which has filed for bankruptcy and has defaulted on mortgage payments since May 2020, is trying to close the sale of the property with a company that intends to convert it into an apartment complex, according to court records.
The sale of the property, at a price of $17.5 million, has been delayed as Woodbridge works with Scottsdale to rezone the property so the new owners are allowed to move ahead with their plans.
Woodbridge's lender, financial firm Wilmington Trust, filed a lawsuit against Woodbridge in Maricopa County Superior Court in April, asking the court to appoint a receiver that would safeguard the property and prevent it from operating as a detention facility.
Wilmington argues that using the hotel to house migrants will impact the property's condition, thereby decreasing its value.
The firm also argues that Woodbridge has breached its loan agreement, signed in 2015, in many ways.
The contract stipulates the property is not allowed to operate as anything other than a hotel, and that it must comply with city code, according to the Wilmington court filing.
Wilmington lawyers say Woodbridge would not be in compliance with city code if it operates as a detention center because the property is not zoned for that purpose.
It is unclear if the current zoning would allow the property's use as a detention facility. The status of any zoning case related to the sale of the property is unclear, and Scottsdale officials did not immediately respond.
But attorneys for Wilmington say the sale of the hotel is contingent upon the city allowing the property to be converted into an apartment complex and that the property should operate as a first-class hotel per its agreement with Woodbridge."