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A boutique hotel coming to downtown McMinnville will hold true to its local roots, from ownership of the building to its design.

A parking lot currently occupies the corner of Northeast Fourth and Ford streets. But in May, R&H Construction is expected to begin work at the site to build a four-story, 22,640-square-foot building to house the Atticus Hotel.

The project is being developed by a group called Odd Fellows Building (OFB), a limited liability corporation that’s composed of Jeb Bladine, Rob Stephenson, Erin Stephenson and Brian Shea. Bladine is president and publisher of Oregon Lithoprint, the parent company of the News-Register Publishing Co., publisher of the award-winning News-Register newspaper. Rob Stephenson is a landscape architect and former owner of McMinnville-based Cascadia Landscaping.

Erin Stephenson and Shea will lease the new building and operate the Atticus Hotel through their hospitality company Live McMinnville LLC. The company also operates 3rd Street Flats, a lodging business offering flat-style apartments for short- and long-term rental at two locations in downtown McMinnville.

Nathan Cooprider, the architect for the hotel project, is no stranger to the community of McMinnville. He grew up in the area, according to information provided by OFB, and designed the KAOS building – a restaurant complex that made history a few years ago when it became the first new building to be constructed in downtown McMinnville since the 1960s.

When the Atticus Hotel opens in spring 2018, it’s expected to create about 50 new jobs in McMinnville, although Erin Stephenson and Shea didn’t provide information about whether those jobs will be full- or part-time positions.

Once the hotel is fully operational, it is expected to drum up $63,000 per year in property taxes for the city’s Urban Renewal District and collect more than $200,000 per year in local transient lodging taxes.

McMinnville is approximately 40 miles southwest of Portland, in the heart of winery-heavy Yamhill County. The OFB team estimates that Atticus Hotel guests will spend about $2 million per year at local businesses, including the 18 wineries and tasting rooms located within walking distance of the hotel.