PORTLAND, Ore. — You've probably noticed a big new building on Portland’s skyline. Construction on the Ritz-Carlton broke ground in 2020, just as the pandemic started. Now it is nearly complete, with hopes of being part of a downtown Portland comeback.
The 35-story Ritz-Carlton Residences is a modern, dark glass building expected to house 132 luxury condos and 251 hotel rooms.
The building fills the block at Southwest 9th and Washington Street, and it's now getting close to opening. The hotel will be announcing an official date soon, but for now it is saying late summer.
It's a lot of building, with construction happening during some tough times —and now, up close, it's getting a million little finishes.
“It's a lot of fun to create what the experience is going to be for our guests, be on the ground floor, hire all of the team, and make sure that you bring the right people on board,” said Marie Browne.
Browne is the hotel general manager overseeing what will be Portland’s only 5-star hotel. The hotel rooms are expected to start at $575 a night and going up from there. They're already booking up.
“The system has been open for some time so we're building bookings and very encouraged by the pace of that, so it's very good,” said Browne.
So far, media is not allowed inside. But renderings show some of what to expect; an elite hotel with many amenities, Brown says, showing off the best of what Oregon has to offer.
“The designers of the hotel did a spectacular job just incorporating everything that's special about Oregon, from the coastline to the forest,” said the GM, who has been involved in 25 other Ritz-Carlton openings in the past.
But this $600 million dollar building is more than a hotel. The top third of floors are condos for sale, with penthouses going for nearly $8 million dollars. Of the 132 condos, we're told nearly 30 are in escrow.
On the bottom floors will be office space, hotel meeting rooms and some retail space. This is a mega multi-use building.
So, can Portland sustain this high-end place, after all it's been going through? On the hotel side, Browne feels good about the future.
“The interest is overwhelmingly positive and we feel this will be part of sort of breathing new life into the city and into this area downtown,” said Browne.
Of course, a condo or even a hotel room is out of the price range for the vast majority of people. But the hotel management promises it will be a place for everyone for that special dinner, family gathering or cocktails.
They are hiring for about 200 service and hospitality positions, and Browne said she hopes Portlanders will apply.
“We’re looking for service professionals in Portland, those who are truly passionate about serving customers and making that a great experience. But we want to hire as many of those people from Portland as we can.”