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Convention Center Hotel project status

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Statement from Metro Council President David Bragdon

Good Afternoon,
 
I am writing to share with you some important news regarding the status of the Oregon Convention Center Headquarters Hotel project.
 
The Metro Council and its partners worked diligently during the past several years to find a way to make the most of the pre-existing public investment in the Oregon Convention Center (OCC) by building a Convention Center Headquarters Hotel to create more good jobs and to bring more dollars to the region.
 
Broad community support and financial commitment would have been necessary to proceed.
 
Today, I met with the Multnomah County Chair and the City of Portland Mayor to discuss the Visitor Development Initiative agreement.  This agreement determines how a portion of the Hotel/Motel tax and the Rental Car tax support tourism-oriented facilities and programs in the region.  The purpose of the meeting was to determine if there are, or will be in the near future, any available money for the hotel and for other new projects and programs associated with the tourism/travel industry, and to prioritize existing needs associated with the industry.
 
Given recent data and forecasts that document a significant decline in real and forecast revenue from visitor taxes, we determined that there isn’t any available money for new projects or programs in the foreseeable future, and, in fact, we will need to be very diligent to ensure we have enough money to maintain and market operations and marketing programs as well as the existing building infrastructure related to the travel and convention industries. The new information about revenues directly affects the current consideration of a Convention Center Headquarters Hotel.
 
In collaboration with its partners, the Metro Council has been willing to continue the feasibility assessment of this project, but only if it was a good deal for the residents of the region and there was a sound financial plan for the project.  Last December, the Metro Council extended the project at the request of then Mayor-elect Adams so he could conduct an additional feasibility assessment. We believe this careful analysis was appropriate and important given the potential economic development benefits the hotel project proposed to deliver, and because the hotel would be owned by the public.
 
In light of the distressed economy and declining revenue from visitor taxes, it would not be prudent to extend the current development agreement (scheduled to expire at the end of this month) because there is no clear path to a financing solution at this time. With this decision, we recognize there is more work to do on other, more realistic options for creating jobs in the tourism sector.  We have an extremely important set of public assets that require ongoing operating and marketing support as well as continued investment.  
 
We are committed to working with the travel/tourism industry and other interested stakeholders across the region to determine how best to make the most of what we have, to be as competitive as possible in the national market, and to ensure an ongoing commitment to bringing jobs and dollars to our region via these assets.
 
I am going to work with the Metro Council and request that our staff bring back to us a proposed approach in the next 30 days and an action plan in the next 60-90 days.  This plan should include a collaborative process with the members of the tourism and travel industries and other stakeholders to determine a strategic plan for the region’s convention efforts and the public facilities that support these efforts.  We also need to consider the political and financial framework for supporting these strategies.
 
I want to thank everyone involved in these feasibility discussions over the past few years, including the development team (Garfield Traub, Ashforth Pacific), our partners at the city, PDC and Multnomah County, Travel Portland, MERC Commissioners and many stakeholders in the tourism industry and across the community including the labor unions who represent people who work in this industry.  The Metro Council appreciates the interest and commitment of all the parties who have participated. We hope that everyone will continue to stay involved as we move forward.
 
Best regards,
 
David