The buyer is Homer Williams' RiverPlace LLC, which plans to partner with Seattle developer Gordon Sondland on a 110-room luxury hotel and 170 condominiums. The condos would be in two buildings on the west side of the property. Sondland, who developed a new Westin Hotel in Portland recently, is reportedly negotiating with Inter-Continental hotels to operate the hotel.

Neither Williams nor the city was immediately available for further comment Monday afternoon. According to the purchase and development agreement, RiverPlace LLC will pay $3.6 million for the property and then flip the hotel parcel to Sondland for $1.83 million. Total project cost is estimated at $76 million. Work on the condominiums could start next summer, and work on the hotel would begin in 2003 or 2004, depending on demand.

The low purchase price for the property has strings attached. According to the agreement, if the condos cost less than $54.35 million to develop, the city's development commission gets half of any savings. Also, if condominium sales revenue exceeds $64.14 million, the city gets half of that excess sum as well. As for the hotel, the PDC gets half of the estimated $250,000 "opportunity fee" that likely will be paid to RiverPlace LLC by the hotel developer.