PORT ANGELES — The proposed Oak Street hotel/conference center project moves to the negotiation stage after the City Council unanimously accepted developer Randal Jay Ehm’s proposal as “substantially complete” during a meeting Tuesday.
City staff was authorized to negotiate an agreement — subject to council approval — committing city bed taxes to the project.
The agreement is also subject to approval of the project’s marketing plan, budget and implementation schedule.
Bed taxes are collected from tourists and other visitors staying overnight in Port Angeles hotels, motels, bed-and-breakfasts and other accommodations.
Four-story center
Ehm, president of Ehm Architecture of Seattle and San Diego, Calif., has proposed a four-story, 150-room Marriott hotel and conference center costing about $15 million on 3.75 waterfront acres at the foot of Oak Street.
Ehm is also negotiating with the city to build a possible parking structure on city-owned property behind the state Department of Social and Health Services building on First Street to handle off-site parking needs.
“I’m excited, thrilled actually. I’m ready to go,” Ehm said after the meeting. “This is the culmination of a lot of effort, a major milestone.”
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