Convention Center Hotel | x feet | x floors | Proposed

[mcbaby]

Originally Posted by davehogan

Maybe Downtown needs to stay open later to keep people interested in visiting Portland. But not building a hotel because we might not have it full every night is a terrible idea.

Word.

[MarkDaMan]

Oregon Convention Center hotel idea resurfaces with improved economy
POSTED: Wednesday, April 25, 2012 at 01:49 PM PT
BY: Lee Fehrenbacher
Daily Journal of Commerce

http://djcoregon.com/news/2012/04/25...roved-economy/

A casualty of the recession may soon be resurrected: Metro is considering whether to revisit the possibility of a headquarters hotel.

On Thursday, Metro Council is expected to vote on a resolution that would authorize staffers to issue a request for proposals for development of a hotel, with at least 500 rooms, adjacent to and in support of the Oregon Convention Center.

...

Developers are taking notice.

“We have been approached by private developers who plan to develop a hotel in town and know that it’s an ongoing need that has not been met,” Soden said.

Indeed, Weston Development is pushing the idea of converting a 2007 Lloyd District plan for a 31-story condominium tower into one for a 28-story hotel called the Cosmopolitan Tower.

Development inquiries spurred Metro’s interest in re-examining the idea of a headquarters hotel on different terms.

If approved, the resolution granting the RFP process would seek proposals for a privately-financed hotel, meaning developers would assume all risk – though Metro believes a project would benefit from low interest rates and relatively low construction costs.

[davehogan]

Other than hotels near the airport and the Courtyard that's nearly under the scenic Marquam Bridge there aren't many good hotels in Portland. The location is great, but I'd love to see a 500 room seven diamond hotel there, not just a big Westin, Hyatt or Sheraton.

(I'd bet on Westin or Sheraton, mostly because I think there was a gentleman's handshake between Portland and Starwood fairly recently about a Westin opening at that site.)

Personally I think that with the location, transit, freeway access, et al it's perfect for a split brand hotel. Put a Westin on the top floors and an Element below the parking deck.

What that area really needs is more retail that's open. Something near the Rose Quarter Transit Center would be better than the nothing that is there now.

[MarkDaMan]

^Really? A seven diamond hotel?

Ashforth Pacific had an agreement with Starwood, not the city I think. Ashforth recently sold their holdings and the new owner of their lands are focusing on the huge super-block apartment proposal.

I'd expect the RFP to bring in a whole new set of proposals. Of course, without any city/PDC/Metro help, maybe not.

[maccoinnich]

Posted without comment:

Straying from Convention

May 2, 2012

Despite declining attendance and revenue, many cities are expanding convention centers or building new ones.



After decades of being dissed, New York’s Jacob K. Javits Convention Center is finally getting some respect: A $463 million renovation, designed by the Manhattan firm FXFOWLE, will play to the building’s strengths (preserving its once-revolutionary space frame) while bringing massive aesthetic, organizational, and environmental improvements. And with a subway line being extended to its front door—dramatically improving access to the Far West Side location—the 25-year-old facility by James Ingo Freed (of the firm now known as Pei Cobb Freed & Partners) may finally live up to its potential.

Unless it is torn down.

...continues at the Architectural Record.

[MarkDaMan]

Langley, Schlesinger submit proposals for HQ hotel
Portland Business Journal by Wendy Culverwell , Business Journal staff writer
Date: Thursday, July 12, 2012, 2:22pm PDT - Last Modified: Thursday, July 12, 2012, 2:55pm PDT

http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/...2-07-12&page=2

Two well-known Portland developers are vying for Metro's blessing to construct a so-called headquarters hotel at the Oregon Convention Center .
Langley Investment Properties, led by Scott Langley, and Schlesinger Cos., led by Barry Schlesinger, submitted proposals to Metro in the latest effort to finally install a convention-oriented "HQ" hotel at the convention center, 777 N.E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Langley reassembled the team that previously planned to construct a $250 million Westin-flagged project for a fresh proposal.
The second team involves Portland-based Schlesinger Cos. and is led by Mortenson Development Inc. out of Minneapolis.
Metro intends to choose a finalist by mid-August.
The headquarters hotel is the long-missing piece of the Oregon Convention Center. The convention center opened in 1990 and was expanded in 2003. The hotel was always contemplated as a critical piece of the center, which generates significant economic activity for the region.
Travel Portland estimates Portland lost 30 conventions in 2011 alone, translating into 104,250 room nights in local hotels, 50,000 out-of-town visitors and $35 million in spending.
The previous agreement with Langley, then known as Ashforth Pacific, expired in 2009, a casualty of the recession and backlash in the hotel community against plans to finance construction with a taxpayer-backed bond.
Portland Mayor Sam Adams and the then-leaders of Metro and Multnomah County agreed to shelve the hotel conversation, citing the recession and falling visitor taxes.
Metro together with the city of Portland and Multnomah County, agreed to restart work in January, citing a thawing economy, low construction costs and rising interest from private developers in shouldering the cost to build. It solicited proposals from developers in May, with the deadline passing on July 11.

Metro wants a project with a minimum of 500 rooms on a public or private site immediately next to the convention center. The winning project must meet local sustainability goals, offer full-service amenities and minimize any public financing for construction or operations.
Metro won’t immediately disclose the financial terms of the proposals, citing an exemption in Oregon’s public records law.
The two proposals:
Langley Investment Properties, a Portland-based real estate investor and developer centered in the Lloyd District, wants to construct a Sheraton-flagged hotel on one of two sites under consideration. The company declined to describe its proposal in detail, but said it followed Metro’s injunction to privately finance the hotel. Its partners are Garfield Traub Development LLC, Starwood Hotels, ZGF Architects LLP, RTKL Associates Inc. and Turner Construction Co.
Schlesinger Cos. is teaming with Mortenson Development Inc., Hyatt Hotels Corp., Mortenson Construction, Ankrom Moisan Associated Architects , Elness Swenson Graham Architects, Piper Jaffray and Co. and Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels . Spokespeople for both Schlesinger and Mortenson were not available for comment. The Schlesinger hotel would likely be constructed to the north of the convention center, where principal Barry Schlesinger controls a development site.

[NewUrbanist]

I wonder how many billable public employee hours have been dedicated to this project. If the market dictates it, then I believe it is time, however, every council or the development commission goes to a vote, they postpone or walk away from the project.

In other news, I am excited to see that the progression of development seems to be jumping the river from downtown. If a high quality, catalyst project can pencil, then the large scale building plan for the Lloyd District might seem like more of a reality. I'd happily rent in a high rise apartment building there. The views of downtown would be stunning.

[MarkDaMan]

HQ hotel contractor Mortenson opens Portland office
Portland Business Journal by Wendy Culverwell , Business Journal staff writer
Date: Wednesday, October 24, 2012, 10:29am PDT

http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/...&ed=2012-10-24

Mortenson Construction has opened a Portland office to support local projects, including its role in developing a 600-room Hyatt Regency “headquarters hotel” at the Oregon Convention Center.

Mortenson leased space from its hotel partner, Schlesinger Cos., at the Selling building, 610 S.W. Alder St.

Jeff Madden is serving as general manager.

Moretenson and Schlesinger secured early approval from the Portland Development Commission and the Metro Council in September to construct the long-awaited HQ hotel at the convention center, 777 N.E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. Two separate teams submitted proposals.

The team proposed four separate versions centered on the Hyatt name, with options ranging from $157 million to $200 million. The team has refined its view to a 600-room Hyatt Regency to be constructed on property already controlled by the Schlesinger family.

The hotel team also includes Hyatt Hotels Corp., Ankrom Moisan Associated Architects, Elness Swenson Graham Architects, Piper Jaffray and Co. and Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels.

Minneapolis-based Mortenson operates 10 offices in the U.S., Canada and China, including Seattle.

The firm specializes in health care, higher education, life sciences, hospitality, data centers, historic renovations and sports and environmental facilities.

[65MAX]

"The team has refined its view to a 600-room Hyatt Regency to be constructed on property already controlled by the Schlesinger family."

So, does that mean they're doing one single tower instead of the 2 mid-rise buildings? Let's hope so.

[MarkDaMan]

^from what I've heard, yep.

[PDX City-State]

That's great news. I'd take the two stubby buildings over nothing just to give that area some type of kick start, but a tower would be so much better. Who would have thought that the Lloyd District would have so much momentum?

[Okstate]

I have a source that says the tower will be around 25 floors.

[MarkDaMan]

Clearer development, financing picture emerges for convention center hotel; market study released
By Elliot Njus, The Oregonian
on December 04, 2012 at 6:22 PM, updated December 04, 2012 at 6:32 PM

http://www.oregonlive.com/front-porc..._river_default

Plans for a proposed headquarters hotel at the Oregon Convention Center -- including new financing details -- are firming up, though its political outlook remains murky.

At a Metro Council work session Tuesday afternoon, the regional government's staff and the development team behind a proposed Hyatt hotel laid out new details that had emerged in their ongoing talks.

The two sides have coalesced around a single 600-room Grand Hyatt Hotel that would be located north of the Oregon Convention Center on land owned by Portland's Schlesinger family. Earlier, they were considering two smaller hotels on one of two nearby sites.

The new configuration better fits the needs of Travel Portland, which markets the Oregon Convention Center to groups that hold conventions. It wanted a block of at least 500 rooms that could be reserved during events.

But it will also add to the cost of the project, and correspondingly to the amount of a public subsidy.

In its initial proposal, a group led by Mortenson Development of Minneapolis and including the Schlesinger family said it would need between $10.4 million and $36.1 million in public loans or grants, as well a 30-year rebate of most of a city lodging tax that would be levied on the hotel.

To that end, a Metro consultant said Tuesday the agency is exploring issuing "conduit revenue bonds" on the project's behalf to be repaid with lodging taxes rebate.

That would bestow Metro's tax exempt status on the bonds, lowering the interest rate.

"That difference can make a big contribution to closing any funding gap," said Ken Rust, a financial consultant hired by Metro and former chief administrative officer for the city of Portland.

But the public agencies would not be responsible for paying back the bonds if the project went sour. The obligator -- Hyatt Corp., perhaps, or an entity set up to collect the tax rebate -- would be responsible for repaying the bonds, not the taxpayer-funded agencies involved.

"They take on no financial or legal liability by the mere action of sponsoring the financing," Rust said. "Ultimately it's the third party that is the obligator, that's who the bondholders are looking at when they're assessing if they want to buy those bonds."

If Hyatt threw its credit heft behind the bond, it could secure lower borrowing but could be responsible for making payments if the lodging tax didn't fulfill obligations to borrowers. If the lodging tax was the sole source of money to repay the bonds, the borrowing cost could be higher because of the greater risk to bondholders.

Tuesday, consultancy Strategic Advisory Group also released a study -- embedded below -- of the feasibility of a headquarters hotel mostly affirming Metro's earlier findings.

A survey of 135 meeting planners suggested a 600-room hotel near the convention center would increase the likelihood the planners would select Portland for their group's event.

The study says a headquarters hotel could bring an additional five to 10 events to the Oregon Convention Center, increasing its economic impact by $120 million a year. It also found Portland-area hotels are outperforming peers nationwide in filling rooms.

Metro Council President Tom Hughes said the study showed there's pent-up demand for new hotels in the Portland area.

"The difference is this is the only hotel that actually brings additional demand," Hughes said.

The study says also claims a convention center hotel, by luring new events, would increase citywide hotel occupancy by 1.4 percent within two years of opening .

The Metro Council, along with Portland and Multnomah County officials, had expected to be approving the general terms of a financing deal this month, with a final agreement up for approval in 2013. But prolonged negotiations between Hyatt and a hotel workers union, a precondition of starting negotiations, threw off the timeline and didn't wrap up until the end of October.

That means the term sheet will be presented in a very different political climate next year with new elected officials sitting on the Metro Council and the Portland City Council.

Teri Dresler, the manager for Metro's venues, said the "aggressive" timeline came in part because of support from departing elected officials, as well as current low borrowing and construction costs.

But Hughes said the new political climate won't threaten the project.

"Everything changes politically after the first of the year," Hughes said, "but not enough to do anything significant."

–Elliot Njus

[Eco_jt]

and in case anyone is interested:
http://www.oregonlive.com/front-porc..._impact_s.html

The Market Impact Study by Metro for the Convention Center Hotel is embedded into the bottom of the above link.

[MarkDaMan]

Developer: HQ hotel can be built without major subsidies
Portland Business Journal by Wendy Culverwell , Business Journal staff writer
Date: Wednesday, December 12, 2012, 10:26am PST

http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/...t.html?s=print

A 600-room Hyatt-flagged hotel could be constructed at the Oregon Convention Center with little impact on the public purse, a Portland developer says Barry Schlesinger, principal with the Schlesinger Cos., is teaming with Mortenson Development and Hyatt Hotels Corp. to advance the hotel at the Oregon Convention Center.

The team is negotiating a development agreement with Metro, the regional government. It aims to break ground by late 2013 on a site immediately north of the convention center, 777 N.E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. The goal is to open the hotel, the long missing piece of Oregon’s convention industry, by late 2015.

...

The project would not proceed entirely without public funds. The Portland Development Commission set aside $4 million, and Metro is “willing to consider” financial support though it has not publicly disclosed how much.

In the bid package, Metro identified federal New Market Tax Credits and the EB-5 immigrant investor program as potential funding sources, though neither is in play for the Hyatt project.

The Hyatt team proposes constructing the hotel on a block immediately to the north of the convention center, across Northeast Holladay Street. Schlesinger Cos. owns most of the site and has an option to buy the balance when it needs it.

Wendy Culverwell covers real estate, retail and hospitality.

[bvpcvm]

This is certainly good news.

[MarkDaMan]

A rendering of a proposed 600-room Grand Hyatt hotel at the Oregon Convention Center. (Mortenson Development/Metro)

Convention center hotel: Metro officials to brief Portland, Multnomah County commissioners on lodging tax
By Elliot Njus, The Oregonian
on April 30, 2013 at 6:27 PM, updated April 30, 2013 at 6:35 PM

http://www.oregonlive.com/front-porc..._river_default

Metro officials are meeting with Portland and Multnomah County commissioners starting this week in anticipation of a funding decision for a proposed Hyatt Hotel at the Oregon Convention Center.

Metro, the tri-county regional government that oversees the convention center, is still negotiating with the development team behind the proposal, led by Mortenson Development of Minneapolis. The developers have proposed using lodging tax proceeds generated by the hotel to help finance its construction.

The 30-year rebate on the lodging tax would help make payments on an up-front loan. Over that period, the reinvested tax revenue could add up to $111 million, according to the developer's projections.

...

[urbanlife]

I am curious, is this hotel gonna conflict with a possible development that would be surrounding the Burgerville?

[MarkDaMan]

Nope, two separate projects. It would still leave room for the office tower too, I think it was 300 Multnomah or something like that.