An effort to align government policy on construction sites is gaining steam, with Prosper Portland‘s board voting last week to endorse a framework plan for the Construction Career Pathways Project.

The project, spearheaded by Metro, is an effort to increase participation in the construction industry by women and people of color.

Metro is developing what it calls a “tool kit,” including template language for diversity goals.

William Myers, a Prosper Portland board member, said the Hyatt Regency Portland at the Oregon Convention Center project showed the need for better coordination. That project involves Metro, Prosper Portland, TriMet and various city bureaus.

“We had conflicting policies that needed alignment,” he said at the Oct. 9 board meeting.

Myers noted the Construction Careers Pathway Project comes alongside other efforts to diversify the workforce.

“We’re starting to see the industry take over and course-correct a lot of these things,” he said.

Myers pointed to the positive jobsite culture training being conducted by the Pacific Northwest Carpenters Institute, as well as an effort being discussed that would provide child care to workers.

Raahi Reddy, Metro’s director of diversity, equity and inclusion, said the project is meant to provide a flexible framework.

“That’s up to each agency what the workforce agreement looks like,” she said.

Contractors will benefit from standardized language on workforce goals, said John Cárdenas, Prosper Portland’s construction, business and workforce equity project manager.

“The best reaction I can ever hear from a contractor or subcontractor is, ‘Oh, I’ve seen that before,’” Cárdenas said. “That familiarity breeds comfort, and that comfort gets us closer to achieving our goals.”

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As crews approach the finish of the Hyatt Regency at the Oregon Convention Center hotel project, others at the adjacent parking garage are also looking to wrap up work.

General contractor Mortenson Construction is building both projects for Metro. Currently, workers at the six-story, 442-space parking garage project are completing storefront elements and mechanical systems, as well as new sidewalks, stairways and other hardscape. The structure itself is six decks of post-tensioned concrete.

“The garage and hotel both are scheduled to be in sync with each other,” said Dan Mehls, vice president of Mortenson Construction‘s Portland office. “They need to open at the same time, but we’re at a point where the parking garage will be ready before the hotel; we wanted to be comfortable that the garage would be ready.”

Upon completion, the garage will gain a nine-story addition. ZGF Architects‘ design for developer Prosper Portland received approval from the Portland Design Commission earlier this month. The 100 NE Multnomah Office Building will also be constructed by Mortenson.

“We’ve been working with Prosper Portland through the different stages of design,” Mehls said. “Work wouldn’t start until after the tenants have been identified, and that could be anytime in 2020.”

The mechanical systems built into the garage are robust and intended for commercial use beyond vehicle parking. Concrete columns, meanwhile, extend upward from the roof of the structure so additional post-tensioned decks can easily be stacked on top of the garage.

“Part of the expansion goes alongside the existing garage and most of it is up on top,” Mehls said. “It’s a unique way to add to the building.”

Mehls added that it would be a “misnomer” to call the project a parking garage in the first place.

“It’s really the first phase of a mixed-use development,” he said. “It’s got retail on the first floor and it’s built to receive a tower on top and it’s designed to accompany the hotel.”

Both the parking garage and the hotel are on schedule to be completed this fall, Mehls said.

Minneapolis-based Mortenson has maintained a presence in the Pacific Northwest for more than 30 years, but the two projects have helped cement the firm’s presence in Portland, Mehls said.

“This project kind of helped put us on the map, visibility-wise,” he said. “We’ve been always kind of an under-the-radar developer and builder, and it’s helped us grow our business here.”

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After more than three decades, a is coming near the Oregon Convention Center.

Arrangements for bond funding are expected to close Aug. 8, with demolition and other prep work on the site north of the convention center set to commence shortly after, said Tom Lander, executive vice president for Mortenson.

Mortenson closed on its $165 million construction loan. Regional government body Metro, which operates the convention center, is in the process of selling $60 million in bonds.

Lander expects Mortenson to hand over the property to Hyatt at the end of 2019. The hotel is scheduled to open to the public one month later.

He’s confident the firm will be able to weather the labor shortage gripping the construction industry during this period of unprecedented growth.

“Mortenson has had an office in the Northwest for more than 30 years,” he said, referring to the design-builder’s Seattle office. Mortenson opened a Portland office around six years ago.

“We have a strong presence in the Portland market. We have a strong relationship with the local unions, and we have identified our subcontractors and we feel that we are in a good position to advance the project. But it is a challenging market and it’ll be a fun build.”

The $240 million building will have 600 rooms, a market, a bar and a restaurant. The 14-story hotel will be located on two blocks just north of the Oregon Convention Center in the Lloyd District. A parking garage with 419 spaces is being developed with the help of Prosper Portland.

TriMet‘s MAX light-rail train already has a station that will be between the convention center and the 440,000-square-foot hotel.

Of the total project cost, around $170 million will be covered by Hyatt, $60 million by Metro bonds, $10 million by the Oregon Lottery and $4 million by Metro grants.

Economic development interests in the area have tried since the late 1970s to recruit a large-capacity hotel to the convention center Urban Renewal Area. The most recent effort to delay the project was a set of legal challenges by a rival developer. The matter was settled when Metro agreed to allow that developer, Gordon Sondland, to control a nearby parking structure.

Hyatt Regency Hotel

Size: 440,000 square feet

Cost: $240 million

Contractor: Mortenson

Design: ESG Architects, Mayer/Reed Landscape Architecture, Hyatt

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