The announcement was made today by the three Meydenbauer Place development partners -- Connie Grant of Bellevue's Tochterman Management Group, Jeffrey Rhodes of The Rhodes Company, and Kenneth A. Himmel of the Palladium Company.

A Marriott Hotel had been expected to bring high-end accommodations to the Meydenbauer Place mix of convention facilities, entertainment-enhanced retail, office, and parking.

The choice between Marriott and Westin was "extraordinarily difficult to make," Rhodes stated. He attributed the change to a new alliance between Himmel and Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Westin's parent company, and to Starwood's willingness to take an ownership interest in the hotel project.
 
Starwood's equity position "demonstrates great confidence in the project," Rhodes said. According to Grant, it reflects "an investment in our community which is extremely important to the Tochterman family." Meydenbauer Place will be built on land which has been owned by the Tochtermans for three generations.

All three development partners acknowledged Westin's international reputation for excellence and its "star power" in making it an "extremely desirable" addition to the Eastside.

Westin operates more than 200 hotels in more than 25 countries worldwide and has been recognized, for the fourth consecutive year, as the number one upscale hotel chain by readers of Business Travel News in its "Survey of Top Hotel Chains."

Westin brings to Meydenbauer Center "a tremendous amount of convention properties experience and an excellent reputation among convention travelers in major cities worldwide," said Jim Gallagher, senior vice president of public relations for Starwood Hotels & Resorts. Bob Wallace, chairman of the Bellevue Convention Center Authority, confirmed that Westin "will lend enormous drawing power to the Meydenbauer Center facility."

Himmel's new venture, The Related Lodging Group, will develop, design, construct and own Class-A full-service hotels in major metropolitan markets throughout the U.S. Starwood Hotels & Resorts will operate the hotels under its various brands, which include Westin, Sheraton, Four Points, St. Regis, Caesars and its new W Hotel brand.

Their first joint venture will be in Bellevue. Steve Goldman, Starwood executive vice president, called Meydenbauer Place "a great opportunity to invest in a highly visible location and a vibrant metro market."

With more than 650 hotels and resorts located in over 70 countries worldwide, Starwood Hotels & Resorts is the world's largest, fully integrated hotel company. Starwood completed the acquisition of Westin Hotels & Resorts in January 1998 and has also recently acquired ITT Corporation, which operates Sheraton and Caesars.

The Westin tower will be highly visible at the corner of Northeast 8th St. and 112th Ave. Northeast. Hotel guests will enjoy luxury services and amenities including a 150-seat, full-service restaurant, and elegant 50-seat lobby and cocktail lounges. Special events will be conducted in an 11,000-square-foot main ballroom, a 4,000-square-foot junior ballroom, and 9,000 square feet of function rooms and boardrooms. It is expected that the Westin will attract convention, corporate and tourist business.

Construction of Meydenbauer Place is expected to begin in mid-1999 and conclude in late 2000. It will enlarge the existing Meydenbauer Center convention facility to 563,000 square feet including its own parking. It will also feature a 20-story office tower and 300,000 square feet of retail space including an 18-screen multiplex by General Cinema, several destination restaurants and upscale shops. The project will wrap around a 50,000-square-foot landscaped plaza.