July 07–SALEM — A plan to build a 600-bed Hyatt Hotel near the Oregon Convention Center got a shot in the arm from lawmakers Sunday night when lawmakers earmarked $10 million in lottery bonds for the project.
Metro officials were seeking $12 million in state bonds for the project, which would be built in partnership with Mortensen Development. Metro projects the project, once completed, would generate around $5 million per year in income taxes and a special hotel tax would pay down $60 million in public bonding for the project.
The project has drawn opposition from a consortium of private hoteliers, who charge that the project will offer unfair competition for visitors.
But backers of the plan say it will boost the regional economy by attracting large-scale conventions to Portland by providing facilities and amenities that convention planners seek.
–Christian Gaston
