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While tower cranes aren’t unusual to spot on the Portland skyline these days, the one that rose last month for the project on the corner of Southwest Third Avenue and Taylor Street held special meaning for Jeff Madden’s five-year-old son.

鈥淗e’s been waiting for it,鈥� said Madden, who serves as general manager of Mortenson Construction‘s Portland office.

The crane that Madden’s son had been eagerly awaiting was erected a few weeks ago to start vertical construction of an AC Hotel by Marriott in downtown Portland. Mortenson Development is the project developer and Mortenson Construction is serving as general contractor for the 120,000-square-foot hotel, which is slated for completion in December 2016.

With an eye toward creating a memorable holiday moment highlight the crane’s erection, the hotel project team, which includes SERA Architects as the project designer, arranged a small holiday party. Kids and other family members were outfitted in safety gear, including miniature safety vests for the little ones. The group then gathered in an area across the street from the construction site, where they could watch the crane come together.

What the small group didn’t see was the planning that had to go into place in order to situate the crane as well as coordinate a pour of a little more than a thousand feet of concrete on what Madden calls a 鈥減ostage stamp鈥� of a job site.

Typical of so many of the project sites in downtown Portland these days, there’s no place on the corner site to build but up, which means the 204-room hotel will rise 13 stories above the ground when completed. One additional level below ground will feature meeting space, including 1,220 square feet of glass-enclosed 鈥渟alon鈥� spaces offering flexible layouts able to be reserved for use by small groups.

The AC Hotels by Marriott line is one of 19 brands contained within the Marriott hotel portfolio. The hallmark of AC Hotels is that each hotel in the line features a design unique to its location, according to SERA project manager Jon McAuley.

鈥�(It’s) more of a custom brand,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey asked us to come up with an interior design and art package 鈥� something that would fit Portland.鈥�

With an eye toward accommodating that request, SERA tapped into the skills of interior designer Courtney Laird.

The key to creating an experience reflecting Portland lay in using what Laird describes as a 鈥渟imple, luxurious palette鈥� 鈥� some wood, plenty of stone and neutral colors that would allow works by local artists to take center stage.

鈥淭his definitely is an art-centric hotel,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e knew that (art) was going to be an integral part of the design, so we planned strategically for large pieces.

鈥淲e knew we wanted large pieces here and here, so we created architectural spaces into the design to showcase them. It’s going to be a really great representation of local art.鈥�

Once the hotel opens, it will be owned and operated by McWhinney and Sage Hospitality. The latter also operates The Nines Hotel, also in downtown Portland.

AC Hotel by Marriott

Project: A 204-room urban hotel designed to accommodate business and leisure travelers; Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design silver rating targeted

Specs: 120,000 square feet, 13 above-ground levels, one below-grade level

Location: Corner of Southwest Third Avenue and Taylor, Portland

Start date: December 2015

Anticipated completion date: December 2016

Developer: Mortenson Development

Hotel owner/operator: Sage Hospitality and McWhinney

Architect: SERA Architects

Engineer: KPFF Consulting Engineers

General contractor: Mortenson Construction