'm pleased to share that J Public Relations is now representing the Sheraton Phoenix Downtown, the brand's jewel box that soon will be featuring the new vision of the reinvented Sheraton brand experience.  

Set to debut in early 2020, Arizona’s largest hotel is being reimagined under Marriott International’s ownership, which has committed to making Phoenix the launching pad for the new Sheraton experience, rooted in its community forward ethos. Sheraton’s design approach embraces community-fluid spaces that feel warm and inviting for both locals and visitors. From sleek modern lines, marble countertops and accents that pop, the 1,000-room hotel is beckoning guests to connect in style in the heart of downtown Phoenix. 

In May, Sheraton Phoenix Downtown launched its multi-phase transformation, featuring a complete renovation of the guest rooms followed by a redesign of the lobby, public spaces, and dining outlets. The hotel remains open during the entire renovation.

Highlights of the hotel’s revamp include:

• Hit the “L": The public space is the heart of the hotel and will carry Sheraton’s rich tradition of manifesting community into the 21st century by enticing guests to leave their room to meet, work, and relax.
  • Social Sips: Anchoring the public space will be the “Coffee Bar Bar” welcoming travelers and locals to the lobby and offering an all-day curated menu of the best of global and local F&B whether its coffee (or a glass of rosé) at 10 a.m. or 10 p.m. Linger together or alone (in the company of others) at the Community Table that offers wireless charging and lockable drawers for easy short-term storage.
  • Get Down to Business: A nod to Sheraton’s core value of bringing people together, the lobby will feature a more open, social and connected space paired with soundproof booths for private calls. Six unique, hi-tech, and light-filled studios – ranging from 125 to 600 square feet – are designed for groups of four to 26 people and celebrates collaborative working or social gatherings.
  • Join the Club: The Sheraton Club will be a unique, exclusive lobby-level offering designed for Bonvoy members with easy access to the dining and social spaces as well as exclusive services.
  • Tech Savvy: Equipped with a community manager that spearheads the communal lobby experience, Sheraton Phoenix Downtown’s amenities will literally be at guests fingertips with the ability to reserve studios and order food via the Bonvoy app.
• The Amplified Familiar: From a grab-and-go market and indoor/outdoor quick-service concept serving up late-night food to a sit-down restaurant adorned with bright, colorful tiles and a menu built on shared experiences – Sheraton Phoenix’s restaurants will help guests get things done and satisfy purpose (and cravings!).
• Be Our Guest: Invoking the moniker of being the place where the world gathers – travelers will feel intrinsically linked to the Phoenix community and vice versa, through hotel programming and the brand’s concerted design elements that represent the heritage and warm textures of the region. 

Click here for brand images of the model room that is the blueprint for the Sheraton Phoenix Downtown in addition to hotel photos. 

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Jim​

Please feel free to use this article as is. If you would like comments or an interview, please let me know and I will be happy to coordinate.

Thanks!

Terry

Rethinking Your Retirement Investing 

To Hedge Against A Market Downturn

Studies show most Americans aren’t saving enough for retirement. A recently-released World Economic Forum report warned that most retirees risk running out of money as much as a decade before death.

And the anxiety of being ill-prepared for the golden years can grow when portfolios do not, leading some advisors to recommend over-weighting stocks to provide the impetus for long-term growth.  

Retirement planner Nahum Daniels thinks the risk-reward trade-off of investing a retirement nest egg in stocks and bonds can result in even more worry. And, given a bad sequence of returns — coupled with the fact that people are living longer than in previous generations — many retirees could run out of money faster.

“Psychologically, we’ve grown confused about the financial dynamics of retirement,” says Daniels (www.integratedretirementadvisors.com), author of Retire Reset!: What You Need to Know and Your Financial Advisor May Not Be Telling You. “Since the early 1990s, when the 401(k) replaced the defined benefit plan in corporate America, there’s been a fundamental shift in perception. When retirement was pension-based, planning was about guaranteed income and the employer had to keep the promises it made. Today, participants in 401(k) plans have to know about stocks, bonds and ‘balanced portfolio’ management because they’re responsible for their own unpredictable outcomes.

“Ironically, centering a retirement portfolio on Wall Street’s securities-driven risk/return tradeoff may actually be a formula for an even more insecure retirement. The reason is the cyclical volatility inescapable in equity markets. Nor are bonds immune from losses: The Fed’s rate manipulations, coupled with our nation’s current $75 trillion debt overhang, introduces an abnormally high level of volatility to bond prices. The real crisis in retirement planning is not just our savings shortfall but our misguided mindset; we need a perceptual shift about what our real goals are and a tactical reset to reach them.”

Daniels offers four principles to reset a retirement portfolio and hedge against a market downturn:

• De-risk. Whether in the accumulation or spend-down phase, the retirement nest egg cannot afford market losses without eventually paying out less. “Insulate your nest egg from them and guarantee the outcome when you can,” Daniels says.  “It’s unnecessary to resign yourself to self-imposed austerity to accommodate market volatility.”

• Dedicate. “Size your nest egg as efficiently as possible by optimizing the sustainable yield it can generate,” Daniels says. “Work it back from your income need. For example, if your nest egg supports a withdrawal rate of 5 % rather than 3%, you can achieve your goal with 67% less capital.”

• Integrate. Daniels says the latest academic research favors the integration of actuarial science with investment expertise in the construction of a “stable-core” retirement portfolio. “Longevity insurance has a heightened economic value in an era of open-ended life expectancy,” Daniels says, “while historically no asset class beats equities for long-term growth potential. Balancing the two is key to getting the best result and hard-boiling the nest egg.”

• Evaluate. “Today’s fixed index annuity (FIA) lends itself well as the actuarial component of a retirement nest egg,” Daniels says. “Anchoring a stable-core portfolio to it can protect against market declines while still participating in a needed share of upside potential.”

“Buying and selling securities at all the wrong times can increase the odds that you run out of money,” Daniels says. “Retirement investors need a form of protection that can keep them invested without costing so much that it devours their return in the process.”  

About Nahum Daniels

Nahum Daniels (www.integratedretirementadvisors.com) is the founder and chief investment officer of Integrated Retirement Advisors, LLC. He is the author of Retire Reset!: What You Need to Know and Your Financial Advisor May Not Be Telling You. A Certified Financial Planner and Retirement Income Certified Professional, Daniels has served mature investors for over 30 years.  

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CONTACT
Aaron Weiss, Deputy Director
Center for Western Priorities
aaron@westernpriorities.org
720-279-0019

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 16, 2019

STATEMENT on proposal to dismantle Bureau of Land Management headquarters

DENVER—According to a letter from the Interior Department, Secretary David Bernhardt is proposing a sweeping reorganization of the Bureau of Land Management, relocating its official headquarters to Grand Junction, Colorado and reassigning hundreds of DC-based employees to other cities across the West. In response, the Center for Western Priorities released the following statement from Executive Director Jennifer Rokala:

“This isn’t an effort to move the Bureau of Land Management headquarters, it’s an attempt to dismantle it altogether. While only a couple dozen people will be sent to Grand Junction, nearly three hundred others will be scattered in offices throughout the West.

“Secretary Bernhardt is asking families to uproot their lives in a matter of months or possibly lose their jobs, all for a PR stunt. It’s yet another cynical attempt to drain the Interior Department of expertise and career leadership. Our public lands deserve an agency that is effectively coordinating with the Interior Department more broadly, and with Congress. 

“When it comes to managing our public lands, it looks like Secretary Bernhardt wants to make sure the BLM’s left hand can’t talk to the right.”

According to the letter sent by the Interior Department to Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairwoman Lisa Murkowski, 323 of the 384 BLM employees currently based in the Washington D.C. headquarters would be moved to offices across the West. Just 27 of those relocating would be based in the Grand Junction office (only 8 percent of the positions being relocated). The remaining 296 positions would be scattered across the West, with 74 reporting to state BLM directors.

For more information, visit westernpriorities.org. To speak with an expert on public lands, contact Aaron Weiss at 720-279-0019 or aaron@westernpriorities.org. Sign up for Look West to get daily public lands and energy news sent to your inbox.