Overview
- Portman announced it closed on $540 million in financing on Wednesday, June 24, and set an official groundbreaking for Tuesday, July 21 at 10 a.m.
- The planned 21-story, 700-room Marriott will include about 60,000 square feet of meeting space, multiple ballrooms, a 17,000-square-foot events terrace, ground-floor retail, and a skybridge to the convention center.
- Skanska has signed a $325 million construction contract with Portman and says construction work will begin imminently with a targeted completion by the end of 2028.
- The financing stack totals roughly $540 million and contains about $249 million in public support made up of a $50 million state capital grant, a $112 million bond issuance relying on tax-increment financing, a $50 million city loan, and $37 million from a state tax credit award.
- Officials say the deal shifts near-term fiscal exposure onto future hotel revenues and financing instruments rather than upfront municipal cash and that the project is meant to catalyze visitation, conventions, and downtown economic growth as part of an $828 million Convention District plan.