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The Widewaters Group has awarded Skanska USA a $55.9 million contract to construct the 16-story, Porter Hotel in downtown Portland.

The boutique hotel will join Hilton鈥檚 Curio collection and be built on Southwest Second Avenue, between Jefferson and Columbia streets. The hotel will have 299 guest rooms. HC Architecture of Atlanta is designing the building.

The targeted completion date is fall 2017. Joe Schneider, project executive at Skanska USA, said that the project鈥檚 start date will depend on when building permits are secured.

鈥淲e鈥檙e close,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e can鈥檛 say which week it鈥檚 going to be. We鈥檙e hoping it鈥檚 going to be in early December.鈥�

One of the challenges for Skanska USA will be the logistics involved building a hotel on a very tight, half-block urban site with no place to store materials.

鈥淏ut the reward is that building something like this on a small site takes a lot of effort and coordination,鈥� Schneider said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 really exciting to see.鈥�

The Porter Hotel will feature two food service establishments at lobby level. One will be a neighborhood-themed restaurant, and the other will be a market-style caf茅 serving breakfast and lunch. Ample meeting facilities will be included below 13 floors of guest rooms. The 16th floor will have a high-end restaurant and lounge with large, covered outdoor terraces providing views of the city.

鈥淭he rooftop bar is exciting,鈥� Schneider said. 鈥淎 lot of our folks are going to use it. They and other travelers are going to find incredible views from that location. It will have a covering, so even in the wet months you can hang outside and have a cocktail.鈥�