ASU Gave Millions To Omni Hotel, Cheated Students: Attorney Gen.

PHOENIX, AZ — The Arizona Attorney General has lodged a complaint against Arizona State University (ASU) and the Arizona Board of Regents (ABOR) over what he calls a Gift Clause violation. AG Mark Brnovich alleged the university is shying away from its obligations to its students.

The complaint stems from the school and ABOR giving Omni Hotel highly discounted property evaluations, the Attorney General's Office said in a release.

ABOR waived a policy which requires a public auction in property sales and allowed ASU to use private assessors, who gave Omni Hotel a nearly $9 million discount in the form of low property evaluations, Brnovich alleges.

The assessors determined a sale price of $85 per square foot for the Omni Hotel. But "alarmingly," Brnovich says, "a hotel property located across the street reportedly sold for $212 per [square foot], just a day before the Omni Hotel deal was announced."

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Not only is Omni getting a low property evaluation, Brnovich says, but also got ASU to build a 275-spot parking lot, for $8 million, which would be used exclusively by the hotel.

"The Arizona Constitution requires ASU to provide students with instruction that is nearly as free as possible," said Brnovich in the release. "Giving a mega hotel corporation millions of dollars in discounted property valuations and amenities in this development drains university resources that could be used to reduce tuition and improve instruction."

See the Attorney General's full release here.