May 17--John Portman is continuing his comeback, this time in the former Eastern Bloc. 

Portman Development and Swedish contracting giant Skanska secured financing Wednesday for a $72 million Westin hotel in Warsaw, Poland. Portman will retain an ownership interest. His architecture firm, John Portman & Associates, designed the 22-story tower. 

Last year, Portman started construction on a 700-room Westin hotel in Charlotte. 

"We're on a roll," Portman, 76, said Wednesday. "We're busier now than I ever remember." 

For Portman, helping orchestrate the Warsaw deal marks the continuation of his real estate resurrection. After the real estate recession of the early 1990s, he was forced to restructure his business and turn over a majority stake in his properties to lenders. 

But in the past couple of years, Portman's companies and their partners have regained a majority interest in AMC Inc., the company that owns the Merchandise, Gift and Apparel marts in downtown Atlanta. They've also opened the first new office building downtown in nearly 10 years. 

"He's winning again," said Charlie Loudermilk, chairman of Aaron Rents and an AMC Inc. director. "He was down, but he had to come back." 

After Portman's problems in the early 1990s, he shifted his business focus to the Far East, where his architecture firm designed towers in Shanghai, China; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; and Jakarta, Indonesia. 

But Asia's economy declined in 1997, forcing Portman to look elsewhere. "We really got serious about it when the Asian flu hit," he said. "We turned our eyes toward Europe." 

Portman still conducts business in Asia, however. 

His companies are providing planning and development services for five mixed-use complexes alongside Taiwan's new $14 billion high-speed railway. John Portman & Associates is designing the Indian School of Business, a 250-acre campus near Hyderabad, one of India's emerging high-tech corridors. 

Portman signed a preliminary agreement to develop the hotel in Warsaw with Skanska, parent of Atlanta's Beers Construction, in November 1998. 

Portman and its partners, which include the city of Warsaw and Westin parent, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, spent the past two years completing plans and getting financing for the hotel, said A.J. Robinson, president of Portman Development. 

Portman Development picked Warsaw, Robinson said, because Poland "will continue to develop and integrate into the economy of Western Europe." 

Also, Warsaw is attracting more travelers who will create demand for more hotel rooms, Robinson said. "This hotel is really geared toward business travelers as Poland opens up to investment from various parts of the world." 

Looking ahead, Portman said completing the Warsaw deal has energized him, and he has no plans to slow down. 

"I feel 20 or 30 years younger than I am," he said. 

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