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Convention Center Headquarters Hotel project

Metro and the convention center hotel project development team are engaged in a process of identifying a financially feasible hotel construction package. Find out why Metro is involved in analyzing the construction of a headquarters hotel.

Executive summary of deliverables

On July 1, 2008 the Metro Council received the first construction cost estimates and designs for a visitor-funded headquarters hotel for the Oregon Convention Center. These costs detail the expenses of developing a 600-room headquarters hotel adjacent to the Oregon Convention Center and reflect the significant inflation in construction costs over the last five years. The estimates are not final figures, but will help inform discussions of the project's feasibility by Metro/MERC and other interested parties over the next 90 days. Metro is committed to a transparent process and will seek public input before the Council determines if it will continue pursuing the headquarters hotel project by Oct. 3, 2008.
Download the executive summary below

Why is Metro involved in the headquarters hotel project?

Metro owns the OCC as a regional public asset and is directly accountable to the public for effective management to ensure that the OCC performs to its fullest potential as a creator of economic value to the region and the state.

What is the mission of the Oregon Convention Center (OCC)?

The core mission of the OCC is to maximize economic benefit for the Portland metropolitan region and the state of Oregon while protecting public investment in the facility. Conventions and meetings at the OCC generate millions of dollars for the hospitality, visitor, transportation and business services industries as well as providing broad economic benefits to the public throughout Oregon.

The leisure and hospitality sector represents almost 10 percent of the overall employment for the Greater Portland area according to Global Insight and Greenlight Greater Portland. From 1990 to 2006, the OCC generated more than $6 billion in economic activity, $185 million in business and personal income tax revenue, created 97,400 jobs and attracted an average of 640,000 annual visitors to the region during that time, according to recent report by KPMG.

Why is a headquarters hotel important?

A headquarters hotel adjacent to the OCC has been envisioned since it opened in 1990. It is one of the core projects featured in the Oregon Convention Center Urban Renewal Plan developed by the Portland Development Commission (PDC) and adopted by the Portland City Council in 1989.

Studies indicate Portland would get eight new high-impact, national conventions per year if a 600-room headquarters hotel were built. This increase in conventions would generate $54.5 million dollars annually in economic benefits from OCC-related business, and catalyze an additional $64 million dollars from convention-related spending in the region and state each year.

The two-year construction period for the convention hotel would create approximately 2,100 jobs, and spur $256 million dollars in project related spending.

The completed hotel would create approximately 820 annual full-time jobs, generating more than $25 million dollars in employee income.

Moreover, a headquarters hotel is important in allowing the OCC to remain competitive in attracting visitors to the region. Although Portland has many amenities that make it attractive as a convention destination, the lack of a sizable headquarters hotel near the OCC often causes planners to take their business to other cities like Austin, Phoenix and Denver.

What is the importance of attracting national conventions?

The OCC maximizes the economic benefits to the region if it successfully attracts large scale national conventions and tradeshows. Visitors to large scale conventions and tradeshows spend an average of $298 a day for local goods and services compared to $28 dollars a day per visitor at local shows.

The OCC has been challenged recently to increase its market share of national convention and tradeshow business. A recent performance report shows that the OCC is relying more heavily on local meetings, conferences and seminars to fill the venue. The report found that 87 percent of all events at the OCC were local or regional in nature, rather than the national events and conventions, which generate significantly more economic and fiscal impacts. Total convention spending generated in 2006 from OCC was $374 million, 32 percent lower than in 2005 due to fewer overnight visitors and a decline in attendance for multi-day national events.

A recent report by the Portland Oregon Visitors Association (POVA - now "Travel Portland") shows that Portland loses about 50 large scale conventions a year due in large part to the lack of nearby headquarters hotel. National meeting planners and their clients site the presence of a large headquarters hotel adjacent to a city's convention venue as one of the most critical factors in their decision making about where they choose to host events.

The Metro Council is committed to working with all stakeholders and considering all available information regarding this due diligence feasibility phase in the development of a headquarters hotel.

Need assistance?

Matt Springer
503-797-1556
matt.springer@oregonmetro.gov

Files and related materials

Files that are downloadable from this page

• Garfield Traub Ashforth Headquarters Hotel executive summary deliverable 4.9M Adobe Acrobat PDF | Published July 1, 2008
• Revised Scope Options Convention Center Hotel 23K Adobe Acrobat PDF | Published August 8, 2008
• Revised Budget Estimate Convention Center Hotel 14K Adobe Acrobat PDF | Published August 8, 2008

More on the Convention Center Hotel project

Background information about the Convention Center Hotel project

In February 2007, the Metro Council agreed to study the feasibility of developing a headquarters hotel at the Oregon Convention Center. Learn about the project's present phase, history, and different alternatives that have been studied.

Documents related to the Convention Center Hotel project

Learn more about the legislation, studies and documents associated with the Convention Center headquarters hotel project.

Related Internet links

• Metropolitan Exposition Recreation Commission

  (http://www.mercvenues.org/)