GLENDALE, AZ — What was once Crystal Lagoons, which broke ground in 2021 in Glendale, has since changed to an entertainment venue concept with hotel towers called VAI Resort.
Drive down Loop 101 near Cardinals Way in Glendale and you can’t miss the massive project that’s still under construction. The original plan for VAI Resort was to open in late spring of 2023, but that’s now been pushed back a couple of more years.
The West Valley entertainment destination with hospitality will have more than 1,000 rooms within its four towers: the Amphitheater Tower, the Rhythm Tower, the Cadence Tower, and the VAI Villas. This all-inclusive destination is said to be the “largest resort in Arizona from a room count standpoint.”
“What makes us really unique is the integrated amphitheater experience. And so, within the center of VAI will be an 11,000-seat amphitheater,” said Rian Kirkman, Senior Vice President of Marketing at VAI Resort. “Those that stay in the Amphitheater Tower will actually be able to view the concert from their hotel room. And so, you will walk out to [the] balcony of your room, and you'll be about 200 feet from the stage. So, think about that as a private viewing experience that is unlike any other. So, we are super excited.”
Other attractions at the resort include their newly announced conference center, the entertainment area for concerts at the VAI Amphitheater, a retail corridor, Konos Island, and who can forget- Mattel Adventure Park, which is set to open by the end of 2025.
A lot continues to be in the works for the $1 Billion resort. So when will it finally open and what else is going to be at the 60-acre location? Here’s what Kirkman shared in an interview with ABC15.
THE TIMELINE
VAI Resort is said to open in late 2025, but what are the different phases?
“It will be a phased opening starting late 2025 […] with the other phases opening through the first half of 2026,” said Kirkman. “The amphitheater will certainly be phase one, as well as that Amphitheater Tower. And so, you know, we're, we're going to be a luxury resort that's really going to be about entertainment. I mean, luxury can be sometimes a little stodgy, and we're going to be, we're going to have this playful sophistication around us. So, phase one will really incorporate that amphitheater and that concert experience, the room product, and the restaurants in there.”
What’s next?
“Phase two- as anyone who has worked on […] a major construction project, can be a little bit more fluid- but we anticipate a couple of other towers,” said Kirkman to ABC15. “And then [the] conference center and some of the other elements in the resort in a third phase. Now those things, again, can be fluid and can change, but that's at least [that’s] what the plan is for right now.”
For now, one huge attraction is set to open on the 60-acre land- their tenant Mattel Adventure Park.
A representative of the amusement park confirmed to ABC15 this June that they will open “late 2024.”
LIVE ENTERTAINMENT
The resort will have a multi-level outdoor venue for entertainment with thousands of fixed seats and viewing capabilities from the hotel balconies of the Amphitheater Tower.
As the stage is being built, the company is looking for the right stars to activate the entertainment anchor of the resort along with some help.
“Live Nation is a partner. We work with them to help book and find acts that we will program [for] the amphitheater. So, there's nothing I can stay right now, but […] we're in talks with various artists about potentially playing at VAI over the course of the next few years.,” said Kirkman.
The lineup(s) is yet to be announced along with the price tag to attend the shows.
A DOZEN RESTAURANTS
According to the Senior Vice President of Marketing at VAI Resort, there will be 12 restaurants on the property and three of them will be celebrity chef-driven restaurants.
“We will be announcing one of those [celebrity chef-driven restaurants] shortly […] they are all signed, but we have not yet announced [them],” said Kirkman to ABC15. “There's going to be a ray of culinary offerings. I mean, there's going to be […] different types of cuisines. And it's going to be important for us, not only to have guests enjoy it, but we want the locals- so if you're in Glendale, if you're in Peoria if you're in Goodyear, you know, if you're in Surprise- we want to be a destination where people can go to enjoy themselves, whether they stay at the resort or not.”
BROADWAY SHOWS TO GLENDALE?
The VAI public relations team told ABC15 in June 2024 that the resort added some “elements to the property” that required additional time to finish the development. And it looks like they’re not done adding to the entertainment destination.
This October the company submitted a request “for the City Council to authorize the City Manager to enter into an Amended and Restated Development Agreement with VAI Resorts, LLC” as they want to increase the scale of the project. What for, you're asking? Well, it’s to build an indoor theatre.
Documents state the company would construct 180,000 square feet indoor theatre “with a capacity of approximately 2,000 seats and offer live performances, 7 Broadway shows, music artists, comedians, movie premieres and magic shows and to make the theater available for use by third parties.”
The request is yet to be approved by the city of Glendale.
