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Editor’s note: Willamette Week has issued a correction to their original story, stating that Gordon Sondland did not “stop paying,” “refuse to pay,” “stiff,” or “short-pay” any contractors on the Dossier Hotel project.
Rather, contractor Slattery Inc’s claim of an outstanding $75,880.60 is with the company James E. John Construction Co. Inc — that is to say, the dispute is between a subcontractor (Slattery Inc.) and the primary contractor, James E. John Construction Co. Inc. Neither Provenance Hotels nor Gordon Sondland have any contractual relationship with these two contractors.
Furthermore, Portland Hotel LLC is the owner of the Dossier Hotel (which housed Omerta), and not Provenance Hotels or Gordon Sondland, meaning Provenance and Sondland have no direct payment obligation for work performed at the hotel.
Original story:
Gordon Sondland is Portland’s most successful hotelier, but a construction lien filed by Slattery Inc. against his Portland Hotel LLC alleges he may be short-changing his contractors, WWeek reports.
Sondland is the founder and CEO of Provenance Hotels, which locally operates five hotels. It recently renovated the Westin Hotel in downtown Portland, changing it to The Dossier and adding Opal Bar and the short-lived Omertà restaurant. Rob Slattery, whose company, Slattery Inc., did some of the woodwork for the space, told WW Sondland stiffed him on final payments. Per WW, Slattery says Sondland owes his company $76,000, a loss of anticipated income that forced him to close Slattery Inc.
The total for the woodwork in the bar, restaurant, and lobby, came to $380,000, most of which was paid. WW reports Slattery’s company is not the only one that was stiffed but did not name specific contractors. Other contractors hired for the project include but are not limited to Microwave, the newly minted restaurant group by Chefstable’s Kurt Huffman and Lightning Bar Collective’s John Janulis.
Provenance Hotels’ lawyer downplayed the allegations with WW, describing the situation as “a run-of-the mill dispute” between a subcontractor and general contractor.
Eater PDX reached out to Provenance Hotels, Slattery Inc., Huffman, and Janulis. Only Janulis has responded to say he does not have any comment at this time.
As an aside, WWeek pointed out the parallels between Sondland and Trump, as the President was famously accused in 2016 of not paying many of the workers hired to do work on and in his hotels. Given Sondland has donated a million dollars to the president and the fact that the administration is currently vetting him for an ambassadorship, it seems only relevant.
