250 Taylor & Hyatt Unbound | 130'-0" & 245'-6" | 10 & 21 floors | Completed & Dead

[urbanlife]

Oh good, I was beginning to think we knocked down a historic building for a dirt lot. I am guessing the hotel will be dead with all these new hotels that have been built and in the process to be built.

[ORNative]

Travel Portland came out with 2017 tourist statistics this month and downtown hotel occupancy rate stayed flat even with all the new hotel rooms. Room rates rose. So the new construction has kept up with increased demand. I'd put money on this hotel making it through to construction. It is a new brand of hotel with a great location and a spectacular view of the mountain and Salmon Springs. It will be a great long-term investment, even with all of the current construction.

[AcmeGreg]

[QUOTE I am guessing the hotel will be dead with all these new hotels that have been built and in the process to be built.[/QUOTE]

There are indeed many hotels being built right now – but they're all boutique-size:300 rooms max., not counting the CCH which at 600 rooms is tiny compared with convention center facilities in other cities. It's difficult to find solid stats on this but it seems like there are about 7-8,000 rooms in Portland's inner city area right now with another 3,000 or so either under construction or in the pipeline, so by 2020 we'll have around 10,500 total rooms. For a city of 600k+ that's not much. The hotel industry in this town must be exceptionally well organized to have stalled the CCH for as long as it did, but almost immediately after it was approved we began to see all of these other projects sprouting like the buttercups in my lawn! Coincidence? I think not.

[maccoinnich]

Photos: Digging downtown for new office development



Excavation and foundation work is under way on 250 Taylor, a 10-story office building spanning a half block on Southwest Taylor Street between Second and Third avenues. Turner Construction Co. is the general contractor for the project, which was designed by Ankrom Moisan Architects for Third & Taylor Development.

Work at the site began last summer with demolition of a single-story commercial building and the six-story Ancient Order of United Workmen Temple building. Demolition work was completed in early November 2017, and Turner Construction crews returned to the site in March. Currently, DeWitt Construction crews are busy installing soldier pile and tie-backs, and removing dirt from the site to accommodate a two-level parking garage. The project should be fully excavated within two weeks.

Pours of the foundation, a mat footing three to six feet thick consisting of about 5,000 cubic yards of concrete, will be completed over the course of three Saturdays next month. A luffing crane will be installed in June as well. The parking garage and electrical vault will be poured over the course of the summer, and the structure will be back at street grade around September. All ten stories above grade will consist of post-tensioned concrete self-performed by Turner Construction. The project is slated for completion by fall 2019.

...continues at the DJC (no paywall).

[MarkDaMan]

Lotus demolition has begun.

[ORNative]

Don't want to see that piece of Portland history disappear, but I am very excited about this new hotel. Great location with great river and Mt. Hood views - plus a skyline addition. This will be a signature hotel. Excited!

[urbanlife]

That really breaks my heart to see that building go. So many great memories.

[maccoinnich]

Demolition begins on downtown's historic Lotus Café building



Demolition began Thursday on downtown's Lotus Café building, marking the end of another bit of Portland history.

The building opened in 1906 at the corner of Southwest Third Avenue and Salmon Street as the Hotel Albion. But the building was most-known for the Lotus Café and Cardroom, which opened in 1924, and continued to be a popular nightspot until its closure in 2016.

The hotel would later adopt the Lotus name, and there were rumors that it housed a Depression-era brothel. The hotel eventually became a run-down place where people could rent rooms for $100 a month. The hotel was closed in 1976 for fire-code violations.

...continues at the Oregonian.

[maccoinnich]

As the Lotus meets its fate, a look at its past — and its future (Photos)

It's been almost two years since the real last call was made at the Lotus Cardroom and Cafe on Southwest Third Avenue.

But over that span, fans of the roughly century-old watering hole could stroll by and at least take in the old building with a nostalgic gaze.

Now, however, the Hotel Albion Building that housed the Lotus for decades is no more. Crews have spent the past few weeks demolishing the building to make way for a sparkling new 20-story hotel from T&T Development. The project is one of two on the block from T&T. The other is a 10-story office building that is rising up in place of the Ancient Order of United Workmen Temple, another old building that was torn down last year.

...continues at the Portland Business Journal.

[cab]

Does anyone know it they saved the Bar that was in the lotus? Some nice woodwork.

[johnliu]

Originally Posted by AcmeGreg

[QUOTE I am guessing the hotel will be dead with all these new hotels that have been built and in the process to be built.

There are indeed many hotels being built right now – but they're all boutique-size:300 rooms max., not counting the CCH which at 600 rooms is tiny compared with convention center facilities in other cities. It's difficult to find solid stats on this but it seems like there are about 7-8,000 rooms in Portland's inner city area right now with another 3,000 or so either under construction or in the pipeline, so by 2020 we'll have around 10,500 total rooms. For a city of 600k+ that's not much. The hotel industry in this town must be exceptionally well organized to have stalled the CCH for as long as it did, but almost immediately after it was approved we began to see all of these other projects sprouting like the buttercups in my lawn! Coincidence? I think not.[/QUOTE]

This is just anecdotal, but on several occasions in the past year my friends from out of town have been unable to find a hotel room in Portland.

[MarkDaMan]

Originally Posted by cab

Does anyone know it they saved the Bar that was in the lotus? Some nice woodwork.

Yep, they fit it into McMenamin's Backstage Bar.

[MarkDaMan]

Originally Posted by johnliu

This is just anecdotal, but on several occasions in the past year my friends from out of town have been unable to find a hotel room in Portland.

I work in the periphery of the industry. Room rates and occupancy have actually been holding up really well year over year. There are some deals to be found but rates haven't dropped out of the $200s for any of the new builds. I think August will show weakness but that's because the eclipse last year sold out everything in Portland with several hotels over $1,000 a night.

[maccoinnich]

Originally Posted by MarkDaMan

Heard from a reliable source that the hotel will be flying the Hyatt's new Unbound Collection flag.

Looks like your source was correct.

[MarkDaMan]

Taken today 12.6

[cityscapes]

Thanks for all the photo updates recently.

I can't tell from the pic but is the taller portion under construction or is it being used as a staging area for the shorter building?

[RED_PDXer]

Originally Posted by cityscapes

Thanks for all the photo updates recently.

I can't tell from the pic but is the taller portion under construction or is it being used as a staging area for the shorter building?

I walk past it daily. The taller building site is still just construction staging for the office portion.

[maccoinnich]

Originally Posted by cityscapes

I can't tell from the pic but is the taller portion under construction or is it being used as a staging area for the shorter building?

Via portlandmaps, it looks like the hotel could be under construction pretty soon. All the major groups have now approved their reviews.

[urbanlife]

Originally Posted by maccoinnich

Via portlandmaps, it looks like the hotel could be under construction pretty soon. All the major groups have now approved their reviews.

That is some good news, I really expected the hotel portion to fall through or end up looking like the AC Hotel.

[ORNative]

KGW news posted this morning that the construction equipment is staging and ground is breaking for the 4th and Montgomery Unbound Collection hotel.