Portland hotel takes financial punch over city's crime, homeless encampments as corporate clients flee

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Portland families forced to flee over homeless encampments

University Park Neighborhood Association Secretary Tom Karwaki joined 'Fox & Friends' to discuss how the encampments have impacted families in the area as they fear for public safety.

A historic hotel in downtown Portland is considering a lawsuit against the city after a corporate client dropped staying at the hotel over "safety concerns," according to a local outlet that examined email correspondence from business leaders. 

"The city is not living up to its duty to provide basic services (cleanliness, safety & security)," an executive from Coast Hospitality Management, the company that owns the Benson hotel, wrote in an email to the president of the Oregon Restaurant and Lodging Association, Jason Brandt, according to Willamette Week. "Too many homeless and crazy people running around. Suffice to say, I’m furious!"

The corporate client that dropped the Benson was not named in the email, and had a contract for 300 rooms at $156 a night over the course of each month, according to Willamette Week. The email correspondence obtained by the outlet reportedly noted that Delta Air Lines and Alaska Airlines "have been unwilling to come back in full for the same reason." 

"It’s a $50K monthly contract for The Benson," the unnamed executive wrote to Brandt.

CRACKER BARREL LATEST PORTLAND CASUALTY FOR STORES SHUTTERING AMID CRIME WAVE

The historic Benson hotel in downtown Portland. (Google Maps) (Google Maps)

"I am thinking seriously about suing the city," the executive added. "I’ve got to believe we can get other hoteliers to join in and make it a class action suit. We are not the only ones suffering."

Fox News Digital reached out to leadership at Coast Hospitality Management and the Oregon Restaurant and Lodging Association for additional comment on the matter Tuesday morning but did not receive immediate replies. 

Willamette Week also obtained an email response from an attorney representing the restaurant and lodging association, Matthew Lowe, who said a legal team was looking into "a plausible theory" for suing the city. 

"That goes against my general predisposition to counsel clients out of litigation given the cost and burden," Lowe wrote, according to the outlet. "But this appears to be an instance where we can only make headway with the city if we can get a court order."

Lowe did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s inquiry for comment on a potential lawsuit. 

Crime in Portland has skyrocketed in the last few years, with a recent study finding violent crime in the city drastically rose over the last three years, most precipitously in 2020, when the city saw near-nightly protests and riots over the death of George Floyd. 

Portland is grappling with an uptick in homicides attributed to gang violence. (Portland Police Bureau/Facebook) (Portland Police Bureau/Facebook)

Researchers for the California Partnership for Safe Communities compiled crime data from the city, specifically examining homicides and non-fatal shootings from 2019 to 2021. The data found that there was a 144% increase in homicides from January 2019 to June 2021 while non-fatal shootings increase by 241% from January 2019 to December 2021. 

The violent crimes began ticking up in 2019, with 36 homicides that year compared to 26 in 2018. The city had held a 20-year average of 28 homicides per year, with 2004 as the outlier at 29 homicides.

PORTLAND, THE SITE OF MASSIVE GEORGE FLOYD PROTESTS, HAS BEEN RAVAGED BY VIOLENT CRIME SINCE

That average was soon obliterated when the data showed 2020 notched a 58% increase in homicides compared to the year prior, at 57 deaths, and 2021 recorded a 54% increase, at 88 homicides. The number of homicides in 2021 was a 238% increase from numbers recorded in 2018. 

The city has also struggled with widespread homeless encampments, which has forced some Portland families to recently sell their homes and leave the city. 

A homeless camp near the east side of the Hawthorne Bridge as smoke from wildfires fills the air in Portland, Oregon, U.S., on Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2020. Photographer: Rebecca Smeyne/Bloomberg via Getty Images  (Rebecca Smeyne/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

"I would say the migration to the suburbs, I’ve seen quite a bit in the last two years," real estate broker Lauren Iaquinta told KGW8 last month regarding people leaving the North Portland neighborhood. "Most people don’t want to have to worry about if they can leave their car parked in their driveway overnight without maybe having it broken into. It’s a pretty testy subject."

Another resident of the city told the outlet in late August that even early in the morning he sees people openly doing drugs and other illegal activities on the street. 

"At 8 o'clock in the morning there are folks that are smoking meth, they're shooting up, there's domestic violence. It's absolutely absurd," Nathan Lamb told KGW8.

PORTLAND FAMILIES FORCED TO SELL THEIR HOMES AS CONCERNS MOUNT OVER HOMELESS CAMPS

Several businesses in downtown Portland fled the area recently in response to dwindling foot traffic and increasing crime. Even a Cracker Barrel abruptly closed last month, with employees reporting at the time that the closure was due to security issues in the area. 

The historic Benson hotel in downtown Portland. (Google Maps) (Google Maps)

"There is a growing number of businesses (both in our industry and outside our industry) that continue to be deeply concerned about public safety and cleanliness issues in Portland," president of the Oregon Restaurant and Lodging Association, Jason Brandt, told Willamette Week in comment regarding the Benson hotel. "We look forward to being a partner in any way we can to create a laser-like focus on these fundamental responsibilities of local government."

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Mayor Ted Wheeler’s office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment on efforts to clean the city up.