The City Council concurred with architects who recommended thefinal design include a roofline that ramps up to a point over thecorner of Commercial and Ferry streets SE and a public concoursethat wraps around three sides of the block. A 12,000-sf ballroomwould be located on the second floor.

Bob Zimmer of Seattle-based LMN Architects presented the design,which was an amalgamation of four previous designs presented at apublic forum in July. In addition to the 30,000-sf conferencecenter, the project includes a privately-owned 185-room hotel andunderground parking for 300.

Construction is scheduled to begin in April 2003 and finish ayear later. In addition to $18 million in urban renewal funds, thecity is seeking state and federal grants to help cover the cost ofconstruction. VIP's Industries, owner of the Phoenix Hotel chain,is paying for construction of the hotel.