Colas Development Group has been selected to enter exclusive negotiations to build a $70 million hotel and conference center in south downtown Portland, according to a press release issued by Portland State University on Tuesday.

The Portland-based developer will have the inside track on building a 150-room hotel and conference center alongside the future Performing Arts + Culture Center. PSU will act as the overall developer of the project.

The hotel and conference center will complement the 3,000-seat Performing Arts + Culture Center, which will be owned by the city of Portland. The new hotel building will replace the existing University Place Hotel & Conference Center, which was completed in 1970 at 310 S.W. Lincoln St.

The projects will “help elevate Portland as a cultural destination, reignite investor confidence, activate south downtown, strengthen PSU’s signature performing arts program and energize the city’s arts ecosystem,” PSU stated.

The city of Portland and PSU have moved forward on a plan to replace the Keller Auditorium as the city’s premier venue for Broadway shows and other entertainment. A recent market feasibility study conducted by Hunden Partners found Portland has insufficient demand for two similar venues, and preferred the PSU site.

No decisions have been made about the future of Keller Auditorium.

Colas Development Group will work alongside HMS Developments, a firm led by Ndamukong Suh, the retired NFL star and Portland native who has launched several entrepreneurial projects.

“We believe downtown Portland’s best days are still ahead,” Andrew Colas, president and CEO of Colas Development Group and Colas Construction, stated in a news release. “This is more than a development project. It is an opportunity to help shape the next chapter of our city.”

Colas added that his firm and HMS Developments are bringing together “locally headquartered leadership, private investment and a shared vision for Portland’s future.”

Neither a contractor nor an architect has been chosen yet for the project.

Greg Goodman, co-president of Downtown Development Group, said hotel-conference centers tied to universities have worked well in other cities such as Austin, Texas.

“I think that’d be a positive, definitely,” Goodman said.

The exclusive negotiating agreement will remain in place for at least six months. PSU stated that the next step is “dependent on the city of Portland and its elected officials providing confidence that the project will move forward.”

Colas Development Group is an outgrowth of Colas Construction, Oregon’s largest minority-owned contractor that was founded in 1997 by Andrew’s father, Hermann Colas Jr.

Colas Construction has emerged as a force in public contracting. The firm has built affordable housing, including the 206-unit Hazel Ying Lee Apartments at 3000 S.E. Powell Blvd., commercial projects such as Alberta Commons, and renovations to the Oregon Convention Center.

The development arm is newer but also busy. Alongside Beam Development, Colas Development is developing Steelhead, a 3,500-seat capacity concert venue in Portland’s Central Eastside. The facility for concert giant Live Nation, now under construction, is scheduled to open in summer 2027.

HMS Developments previously developed the Weidler, a 101,600-square-foot Slabtown multifamily project that was completed in 2023.

The post Colas business gains edge for $70M development in Portland appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.