That was my first question. Why does Portland need another hotel and the answer I got was the demand is there. I could see the need if we had a mid-sized convention center. But Baldacci took care of that! :xMax said:Very interesting. I'm not sure how much more hotel stock the city can absorb, especially in the winter. Keep us posted.
Patrick said:when you say large, do you mean height wise or capacity wise (or both, or not necessarily either)? That sounds good. I guess the demand would be there especially now that the westin has fallen through. and especially for that area, the demand would seem more stable than, say, elsewhere downtown, but especially off the peninsula. any word on three portland square? also, i thought i read something about that parcel being eyed for a new arena by the current property owner and civic center trustees. maybe if someone else swoops in on it portland will get the ball rolling and realize that they cannot hold back on the arena forever because all developable land will vanish in the coming years.
If you look up Wayne Huizenga in Wikipedia it says that he sold his ownership interest in hotels back in 2004. He built Extended Stay America to 60 + locations & other hotels he was involved in were Hyatt, Radisson & Boca Raton Resort among others.Corey said:Interesting. Do they own other hotels already? We could use a "W hotel" or a Hyatt or something.
I can't see adding another 3 to 3.5 star hotel to the downtown, the only way to go would be a 4.5 to 5 star hotel and my guess would be that if Wayne Huizenga is involved that it might just be an upper scale hotel.Patrick said:Yes, I say develop that whole lot, too. But, adding a convention center would only make sense if the hotel is really first class and can not only accommodate, but also draw in, the large crowds of business people etc that a convention center would require to thrive. Otherwise I say attach it to a new arena when one is built, like in bayside or something. That would make our arena grander, and it would add event traffic to the area in which it is built.
And no, I have not heard anything more about waterview. However, the signs are still up and there has been no announcement about selling the land or anything (like the Westin) so I assume it is still in the process of an up-hill battle.
The last I heard, about two months ago, was that waterview had deposits on two thirds of the units, had won its court battle, and was now trying to tie up some last minute things with construction anticipated for next sumer. I think the reason this has not been more publicized is that in the past, as we all know, "tying up last minute things" can mean much more, in fact it can mean enough to delay the whole thing by a couple years. we'll have to wait and see on this one, but i remain 50-50 hopeful.
The owner of the property has 3 letters of intent to build a high end, long term stay hotel on the lower part of the large parking lot by 1 & 2 Portland Square. Part of the requirements is that they have to replace w/ a parking garage the amount of spaces that they take up w/ the hotel. One of the groups is W. Huizenga's. That's all I know about the proposed project.portlandneedsnewarena said:I am told that a group owned by Wayne Huizenga (owns Miami Dolphins, Blockbuster Video, former hotel developer) has made a serious inquiry on the lower portion of the large parking lot where 1 & 2 Portland Square are located. They are interested in building a large hotel.
