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A tower crane looms over the Grove Hotel at the gate to Portland’s Old Town Chinatown. Workers in highlighter-yellow visibility vests move on the upper floors among the window frames.

The sidewalk along Burnside Street is closed by permit for construction, but around the corner on Fourth Avenue, a man sleeps on the sidewalk outside the entrance to Right 2 Dream Too, a camp for those with nowhere else to go.

Time is running short for Right 2 Dream Too, which has called a quarter-block on the northeast corner of West Fourth Avenue and Burnside Street home since October 2011.

The backers of the Grove Hotel project 鈥� renovation of a 113-year-old, three-story building and construction of an adjacent nine-story addition 鈥� plan to open in November after filing a lawsuit to force the eviction of the camp. It operates as a nonprofit that helps homeless people get established and find jobs.

Staffers from Mayor Ted Wheeler’s office met again recently with Right 2 Dream Too representatives, but so far, no solution is at hand.

鈥淒iscussions have been good, but there’s not an obvious solution that’s presented itself,鈥� said Michael Cox, a spokesman for Wheeler.

An attorney for the camp, Mark Kramer, did not return messages seeking comment.

The Portland Development Commission has an option to purchase the block occupied by Right 2 Dream Too; that agreement requires the property to be clear of the camp and other potential development obstacles by April 7. The 30-month deadline was already extended once, in October.

鈥淲e do have some time still,鈥� said Shawn Uhlman, spokesman for the PDC. 鈥淭he way that it’s currently written is PDC has the option to purchase this parcel. If those conditions aren’t met, then we’d need to have a conversation with the landowners to ensure those conditions are met.鈥�

The project to create a 113-room hotel with ground-floor retail and restaurant space remains on track to open in November, said Bob Naito, head of Naito Development. Construction was delayed by rough winter weather.

鈥淲e had pours scheduled and the concrete trucks couldn’t roll,鈥� he said.

Howard S. Wright is the general contractor. The design is by Surround Architecture and Studio Tack.

Grove Hostel Property LLC entered into a development agreement with the PDC in 2011, and the $650,000 purchase closed in February 2015. Uhlman said the price 鈥� seemingly a bargain for Portland’s urban core 鈥� reflected the property’s condition and the substantial amount of work needed to redevelop it.

The project is complex. To gain approval from the Historic Landmarks Commission, the developers agreed to renovate the existing 19,450-square-foot building rather than demolish it. A nine-story addition will face Fourth Avenue.

Construction began in March 2016. Filament Hospitality, based in San Francisco, will manage the hotel, Naito said.

Before the hotel opens, the developers want Right 2 Dream Too out. The developers on Feb. 7 sued Michael and Linda Wright and Daniel and Donna Cossette, who own the property that is home to Right 2 Dream Too.

The lawsuit says the homeless camp is incompatible with hotel operations next door. The lawsuit says the camp is in conflict with a safe pedestrian environment and the 鈥渟ocial value鈥� for the neighborhood.

The shelter reduced the hotel project’s fair-market value by $900,000, which caused the loss of the developers’ financing, the lawsuit charges. Grove Hotel Partners LLC and Grove Hostel Property LLC are seeking more than $1.6 million for their costs and lost business.

Moving the camp has proved difficult. A plan to relocate Right 2 Dream Too to a city-owned property at Southeast Third Avenue and Harrison Street was scuttled in August by the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals. The appeals board said a long-term tent camp would violate the parcel’s industrial (IG1) zoning.

Several property interests fought the camp’s proposed move east of the Willamette River. They include the Central Eastside Industrial Council, developer Killian Pacific, East Side Plating Inc. and Marquez Properties PDX, a limited liability company.

Right 2 Dream Too’s limbo leaves the PDC waiting. The agency’s option to purchase the 7,762-square-foot parcel is for $1.2 million.

The timing is politically sensitive. City leaders have been under enormous pressure to find a solution to Portland’s enduring homelessness problem. Efforts to establish a homeless shelter at Terminal 1 along the Willamette River foundered last winter. Four deaths of homeless people were attributed to hypothermia.

The PDC has not decided what to do with the quarter-block, Uhlman said.

鈥淲e haven’t set a course for that property yet,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t is a parcel where we really want to involve the community and have something that’s supported as far as what comes next.鈥�

Still searching for shelter site

Developer Homer Williams is again working behind the scenes to find a Portland site for a large-scale homeless shelter after his proposal to establish one on the city-owned Terminal 1 lot fell through.

For Williams, it’s back to the drawing board. He’s not changing course on the type of shelter he’s looking for: a large building 鈥� most likely an industrial one.

鈥淭he only way that you’re going to be able to create space in the short term is going to be in taking existing buildings 鈥� primarily warehouses, that type of thing 鈥� and retrofitting them,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat’s what we’re in the process of working on. Hopefully we’ll have identified the first one and get a budget in place and start on down the road.鈥�

Williams has established a nonprofit organization, Oregon Harbor of Hope, to find a site for a homeless shelter and arrange funding for it. He is focusing on government-owned sites.

鈥淲e’re going to look at both city and county and other publicly owned properties,鈥� he said.

The city of Portland sold the Terminal 1 site in December to Lithia Motors for $12.5 million after concerns were raised about the property’s suitability as a potential homeless shelter.

Some stakeholders have questioned whether the city should address homelessness by relying on Williams, who as co-founder of Williams & Dame Development is known for building gleaming glass residential towers. He said he wants to get everyone involved.

The city is awaiting Williams’ next proposal, said Michael Cox, Mayor Ted Wheeler’s spokesman.

鈥淭his office has told Homer that he should go ahead and put together a plan for what his idea is in terms of timeline, budget and site suggestions, and we’ll review that plan when we get it,鈥� Cox said.

Williams said tackling Portland’s enduring homelessness has been a time-consuming but interesting challenge.

鈥淚t’s been a good learning experience,鈥� he said. 鈥淭his is an area that a lot of people have a lot of strong feelings about. Right now, the most obvious problem is the chronic homelessness. It’s in every neighborhood. We’ve got to help mitigate that and get these people into a safe place with a roof over their heads.鈥�