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Renovation projects are often full of surprises. The full renovation of Hotel Eastlund, a 4-star, 168-room boutique hotel in the heart of the Portland’s Lloyd District, was no exception.

Originally built in the 1960s, the hotel’s floors and load-bearing walls were laced with tensioning cables. Deconstruction was painfully slow at times as ground-penetrating radar and x-ray machines were on-site through most of the project to insure those cables were not damaged and that structural integrity of the building was maintained.

What had originally been planned as a selective demolition turned into a full gutting of the building’s interior. All plumbing and electrical features were replaced and new low-voltage communication lines were installed.

Electric controls were consolidated into a 22-foot vault that originally was intended to be placed outside. However, restrictions due to the nearby light-rail tracks and other problems caused it to be engineered to go underground, pushed back into the building. Seismic upgrades were made in the basement and the hotel’s restaurant and cafe were moved to the rooftop.

The $22 million project was further pressured by a very tight time line. Grand Ventures Hotel, the owner, wanted the project finished in time for the beginning of the busy season that starts with Portland’s Rose parade in late spring. From the start of demolition, Deacon Corp. often had crews working double shifts and extra attention paid to tracking material orders to bring them in on time.  The result was a completion date of May 2015, just nine months from start to finish.

Project Team + Stats

Location: Portland, Oregon

Cost: $22 million

Start date: September 2014

Completion date: May 2015

Owner/developer: Grand Ventures Hotel LLC

Architect: Holst Architecture

Engineer: MKE Consulting Engineers

General contractor: Deacon Corp.