Will Ritz-Carlton be a catalyst for change in downtown Portland?

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) -- Rising 35 stories above the city's West End, the Ritz-Carlton Portland is scheduled to open in late summer of 2023.

At a cost of about $600 million, Portland's first five-star hotel will have 251 guest rooms, 132 residences above the hotel's 20th-floor restaurant and breathtaking views in all directions.

The opening will also come as the city grapples with how to handle its homeless problem.

Will the Ritz-Carlton be a catalyst in modernizing downtown Portland's West End?

General Manager Marie Browne spoke with Ken Boddie about the hotel, the amenities, and the prospects for downtown Portland's comeback.

The Ritz-Carlton "will bring a lot more people into this area, when you talk about hotel guests. You've got Portlanders who will hopefully frequent our restaurants and our spa, but also the office space will have a lot of people in the downtown area as well, and the residences," Browne said. "So we're going to bring a new life into the area, just by bringing all of those people who are traveling into this city again."

Browne said the design of the Ritz-Carlton is also unique to Portland.

"The designers did an amazing job of taking everything that's special in this area and incorporating it into the designs," Browne said. "When we think about the lobby and how it's designed after Forest Park -- we call it Forest Hall, it's really like walking into Forest Park. It's going to be really, really special …. and there are little elements of that throughout the design."

Browne is not oblivious to the problems downtown Portland faces, including homelessness, vandalism and a downtown office vacancy rate of upwards of 26%.

"I feel like the city has gotten a lot better," Browne said. "I've been here a year and we've come leaps and bounds since I first got here, so I think that the city is doing a lot to improve things, but I also think that people want something to look forward to and we're one of those things. We're seeing and hearing about a lot of new businesses coming into this area specifically. All of this open retail space are starting to lease, and have plans for opening, which will along with us opening this hotel and all of this retail space, is going to breathe new life into this part of the city, and we're really excited to be part of that."