Oregon Public Broadcasting

A new luxury hotel opened its doors in downtown Portland Thursday. As Kristian Foden-Vencil reports, ‘The Nines’ occupies the top  floors of the historic Meier & Frank building.

When city leaders learned a few years ago that Meier & Frank was considering closing its doors, urban renewal experts kicked into gear – they didn’t want a vacant lot in the middle of downtown.

Now, after $17 million of low-interest loans, there’s a new Macy’s on the lower floors and the new ‘Nines Hotel’ on top.

General manager, Fred Kleisner says the hotel has an atmosphere of casual sophistication and modern nostalgia.

Fred Kleisner: “We’ve got a 419 piece art collection, which is all based on the hard work of our local art curator Paige Powell. So we locate site specific artwork just for the Nines. Which is a real fancy way of saying we didn’t just walk into a gallery and select items hanging on the wall.”

The hotel opens a couple of months late and $18 million over budget. If also faces liens from subcontractors who say they haven’t been paid.

Another Portland hotel, the Four Points Sheraton, also just re-opened as  ‘Hotel Fifty’ after a $7 million renovation.