July 12, 2013–The new owners of the 174-room Red Lion Hotel near the Oregon Convention Center plan to launch an $8 million to $10 million remodel next year.
Grand Ventures Hotel LLC, which bought the hotel last month, is best known in Portland as the partnership behind the 174-room downtown Hotel Modera. The group bought that property, a former Days Inn, in 2007 and reopened it in 2008 as a luxury boutique hotel.
The Red Lion — which might not operate as a Red Lion after the renovation — is going to see a renovation with a similar scope.
“The major difference is that this property has significant meeting space in the top floor of the hotel, with a really fantastic view looking back at downtown Portland,” said Desmond Mollendor, the hotel’s new general manager and a partner in Grand Ventures. “We plan on bringing this hotel back to its original glory, similar to what we did with the Hotel Modera.”
The work, which will close the hotel for seven to nine months, will add a lobby bar and expand the lobby and top floor restaurants. The goal, Mollendor said, is to expand on the business driven by the nearby convention center and start luring more corporate travelers visiting Portland.
Grand Ventures bought the hotel from Seattle-based Wright Hotels Inc. in a deal that closed June 24. A sale price was not disclosed.
The group was drawn to the Lloyd District in part because of major new housing and office developments planned there, Mollendor said. They also said they support a new hotel near the Oregon Convention Center that would be backed by local and state funds as well as revenue from a tax on hotel stays.
That new proposed hotel, a 600-room Hyatt Regency, is being considered for public backing because the Metro regional government, which operates the convention center, says it will help draw new out-of-town conventions and the economic activity they generate. And, officials say, the spillover from the conventions will help fill other area hotels.
“We’re really excited to be on that side of the river,” Mollendor said. “We feel strongly that it’s an up-and-coming area … that will end up being part of downtown.”
— Elliot Njus
