Metro takes next step towards controversial hotel project
Authorizes nearly $670,000 to prepare plans and cost estimates
Despite opposition from some local hotel owners, the Metro Council voted to continue pursuing the construction of a publicly-owned hotel across from the Oregon Convention Center on Thursday.
The council unanimously approved a resolution introduced by Councilor Rod Park to spend $669,000 and six months finalizing an agreement with a development team that includes the development of a preliminary schedule for development of a 600-room hotel, a preliminary project budget and a hotel operating agreement.
“Today’s decision is not a commitment to build the hotel,” said Park. “It’s a commitment to put the development team through the due diligence that a project of this magnitude requires.”
Metro could issue $150 million or more in bonds for the project. The vote came after local governments in the region expressed a willingness to share the risks of the project.
Metro owns and operates the OCC to help the local economy by boosting tourism. Some local hotel owners have testified against Metro building a publicly-owned hotel, saying the marketplace should determine the need for such a project and warning that it might not pay for itself.
“By taking this step we’ll have the information we need to make a decision about building the hotel,” said Councilor Rex Burkholder, whose district includes the OCC. “We’ve already made considerable public investments in the OCC, light rail and the Eastside Streetcar Project. With the Rose Quarter nearby and other private investments on the drawing board, the Lloyd District is poised to be the economic anchor of the inner eastside that we’ve always imagined.”