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A casualty of the recession may soon be resurrected: Metro is considering whether to revisit the possibility of a headquarters hotel.

On Thursday, Metro Council is expected to vote on a resolution that would authorize staffers to issue a request for proposals for development of a hotel, with at least 500 rooms, adjacent to and in support of the Oregon Convention Center.

鈥淒espite OCC’s attractiveness and the city’s desirability by national convention meeting planners, OCC continues to lose national convention business due to the insufficient and inconvenient hotel room package currently offered,鈥� according to a recent staff report recommending the resolution to initiate the RFP process.

In 2008, after nearly six years of planning, budgeting, designing and re-budgeting for a $247.5 million hotel that would have been paid for with city-backed construction bonds and operated by Westin Hotels, the proposal fizzled.

鈥淚t was really the economy taking a nosedive,鈥� said Stephanie Soden, director of communications and strategic development for Metro. 鈥淚t just made the project not financially feasible at that point.鈥�

But now, with the recessionary tide beginning to recede, the hotel industry is beginning to emerge with its head above water. According to , a research and analytics company that follows the hospitality business, U.S. hotels reported increases in occupancy, room rates and revenues at the end of the first quarter of 2012.

Developers are taking notice.

鈥淲e have been approached by private developers who plan to develop a hotel in town and know that it’s an ongoing need that has not been met,鈥� Soden said.

Indeed, Weston Development is pushing the idea of converting a 2007 Lloyd District plan for a 31-story condominium tower into one for a 28-story hotel called the Cosmopolitan Tower.

Development inquiries spurred Metro’s interest in re-examining the idea of a headquarters hotel on different terms.

If approved, the resolution granting the RFP process would seek proposals for a privately-financed hotel, meaning developers would assume all risk 鈥� though Metro believes a project would benefit from low interest rates and relatively low construction costs.

Construction of a headquarters hotel would certainly help Brian McCartin, executive vice president of convention and tourism sales for Travel Portland, sell the city’s potential. He said that even though the idea was sidelined in 2008, Portland’s need has increased as more convention groups learn that the city lacks a large hotel.

鈥淚t’s harder for us to even get to a point where we can even bid on their business, with a couple other or three other cities, because they disqualify us pretty early in the process and we don’t even get to entertain asking them to the dance, if you will,鈥� he said.

Often, representatives of those conventions opt for places like Denver or Phoenix, where attendees can walk across a street to their rooms. Easy access to rooms is also a big driver for another important convention group: exhibitors.

鈥淭he people that pay that group a lot of money to get in front of their clients and show their wares,鈥� McCartin said.

Last year, Travel Portland saw 30 large convention groups 鈥� representing a total of 104,259 room nights and an estimated $35 million in community spending 鈥� go elsewhere because the city lacked a headquarters hotel.

Meanwhile, the business that did come through the Oregon Convention Center’s doors resulted in a regional economic impact of $450 million and 4,260 jobs, according to Metro’s staff report. Since 2001, the center has generated more than $4 billion in regional spending.

McCartin said that should be accounted for when a hotel’s viability is questioned.

鈥淣o convention center makes money,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey are all there for economic impact to the community: the draw that people come and spend money in hotels and attractions and retail and restaurants and around the community.鈥�

Nevertheless, some downtown hoteliers may view a headquarters hotel as competition 鈥� especially those that have been acting as a sort of de facto headquarters hotel in the absence of an official flagship.

McCartin admitted that the Portland market would need about a year to absorb 500 new rooms, but he added that bookings at the proposed hotel would be arranged to avoid competition with short-term sales and that any large convention would ultimately spill over into nearby rooms.

Soden noted that the Specialty Coffee Association of America convention this past weekend resulted in more than 7,000 room nights and an estimated $6.8 million in community spending.

鈥淭housands of local businesses are supported when people come to town,鈥� she said. 鈥淚f you happened to be out last weekend, you saw the coffee convention and 10,000 people from around the world.鈥�

Metro Council is set to meet today at 2 p.m. at 600 N.E. Grand Ave. The meeting is open to the public.