Commissioner Adams has continued to be involved in the effort to develop a Headquarter Hotel adjacent to the Oregon Convention Center. After reviewing the available data, Sam thinks that a minimum 400-room hotel would best meet current market conditions and require considerably less public subsidy than a larger hotel. The Portland Development Commission's original request for proposals had called for a 600 to 800 room hotel, but Sam feels that the additional rooms could be added in another phase as market conditions dictate. Please read further in his letter to the PDC and the City Commissioners:
April 29, 2005
TO: Portland Development Commission
Headquarters Hotel Selection Committee
FROM: Sam Adams
COPY: Portland City Commission
RE: My Concerns About Headquarters Hotel RFP Process
The purpose of this memorandum is to share with you my concerns about the selection process currently underway to choose a potential developer for a headquarters hotel near the Oregon Convention Center.
I have a decade-long familiarity with the details of the headquarters hotel issue as the chief-of-staff to former Portland Mayor Vera Katz, and as a member of the Board of Directors for the Portland, Oregon Visitors Association.
I have been briefed by PDC staff on the selection process currently underway. Last week, I attended the open house and had an opportunity to review the schematics and meet representatives of the development teams who have responded to the request for proposals from PDC.
As you know, the lodging industry is emphatic in their position that the headquarter hotel be built to allow for a convention group block of 500 rooms with no more than 400 net new rooms being added to the city’s inventory. This could be achieved through new construction as well as redevelopment of existing inventory. After reviewing the available data, I agree with the visitor industry’s position on this issue. At the same time, my colleagues and I on the City Commission seek to limit the amount of public subsidy required for a headquarters hotel.
My concern is that the selection process currently underway calls for interested developers to respond with proposals to create a hotel with 600 to 800 rooms. It did not ask for potential respondents to the requests for proposals to include a smaller hotel option.
I have also been told by hotel investors that if PDC was to release a request for proposals for a 400 room hotel that they would be interested in bidding on it and that the required subsidy would be significantly less than that required for a hotel sized at 600 to 800 rooms.
Please consider asking the existing respondents to the RFP to provide the selection committee with a downsized option that would allow for a 500 room block but no more than 400 net new rooms being added to the marketplace.
Thank you in advance for considering my concerns.
With warm regards,
Sam Adams