Mayor

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The committee, led by local developeer Mark Edlen, reaffirmed its support for the controversiakl plan in a letter that arrived Wednesday at City The unanimous recommendation waswidely expected. The recommendation follow s a review of theproposed hotel’s expected financial performancr by a subcommittee convened after local hoteliers questioned basicd assumptions about the plan. After a two-hou r and 45-minute meeting, a subcommittee concludedr by a vote of thres to one that assumptions behindthe $200 million-plu project are reasonable.
The mayor’ committee is recommending that Metro and the investy upto $12 million in designin and engineering for the hotel, which would be called at the Convention Center. LLP is the architecty for the project. Roy the mayor’s spokesman, said Adams will sharde the recommendation with the City Counci l as well as Multnomah County officials andthe , whicg has the final say in the In all, 17 elected officialds will weigh in on the plan beforde it proceeds to the next step.
Although Metro is the lead the city has a major role to play because it will lend its bondinfg authority forthe hotel’s construction and will be responsible for issuing construction The mayor has been a stronh supporter of the headquarters hotel. Metro is workingv with a development team led by Garfield Traug Ashforth LLC to createthe hotel, which supporters say is neede to complete the convention center. Withoutf it, the region loses big conventionsd to cities offering better lodginv facilities at their meeting According toTravel Portland, the region lost the opportunity to book 69 conventionas in 2008.
Had they come to Portland, the city woule have booked morethan 243,000 overnight stays by Not having a hotel at the convention center costs the regional economy nearlt $41 million in business sales per year, according to Travel The added business would result in more than $3 millionh in annual state and local taxes and 820 permanent Opponents say the financial projections driving the project are unrealistidc and the hotel would amount to government-sponsored competitiom in an already weak market. The hotel would be constructeed ona two-block site adjacen t the convention center.
The Portland Development Commission paid morethan $11 milliojn for the property in anticipatiom it would someday be developedr as a headquarters hotel.