With no place to snooze, center will lose

East-side boosters say convention-goers need a headquarters hotel

By Jeanie Senior

The Portland Tribune, Apr 18, 2003, Updated Oct 30, 2009

Frustrated by the lack of a headquarters hotel next to a bigger, better Oregon Convention Center, east-side real estate and tourism leaders are trying to make it happen sooner rather than later.

They say the convention center’s potential Ñ at almost 1 million square feet, the Northwest’s largest Ñ won’t be realized until a headquarters hotel is built nearby.

They also say a wait until 2008 or 2009 for a hotel Ñ as suggested by the Portland Development Commission Ñ is too long.

“We are a headquarters hotel short on this side of the river,” said the center’s executive director, Jeffrey Blosser.

Ashforth Pacific Inc. sent a map last week to tenants, partners, associates and friends that outlines one possible three-block site for a convention center hotel.

“There’s not a lack of developers or financiers in the U.S. who specialize in developing and financing convention center hotels,” said Ashforth Pacific President Scott Langley, who is on the advisory board to the convention center. “Several have been swarming Portland in the last year or two to align themselves.

“I’m not sure they are getting the ‘Welcome mat is out’ response. Eventually they get frustrated and move on to the next one. It’s something that needs to be dealt with today.”

Blosser called the lack of a sizable headquarters hotel the biggest cause of lost convention business for Portland, and the factor that will keep the city from realizing the maximum economic impact from the expanded convention center.

“If we’re going to be a player, we’ve got to have the room inventory in place for that to happen,” he said.

Convention-goers “want to be able to access the convention center from their hotel,” Langley said. “It’s a proximity thing.”

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