Nationality American Occupation Businessman | Spouse(s) Katherine J. Durant Name Gordon Sondland | |
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Full Name Gordon David Sondland Born 1957 Seattle Parent(s) Gunther & Freida Sondland Residence Seattle, Washington, United States | ||
Gordon Sondland is the founder and chairman of Provenance Hotels and co-founder of the merchant bank Aspen Capital.
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Career
Sondland’s company Provenance Hotels owns and manages hotels throughout the U.S. including the Hotel 1000, Hotel Max and the Roosevelt Hotels in Seattle, Hotel Murano in Tacoma, hotels in Portland (including Hotel deLuxe, Hotel Lucia and Sentinel, The Westin Portland), The Hotel Preston in Nashville and Old No. 77 Hotel and Chandlery in New Orleans.
In 1998, Sondland purchased and redeveloped four hotels in Seattle, Portland and Denver including Seattle’s Alexis Hotel in partnership with Bill Kimpton. Sondland also is a principal in Seattle’s Paramount Hotel. Through Provenance Hotels, Sondland is developing hotel projects throughout the US, including in Seattle, Hermosa Beach, CA and Los Angeles, CA. Provenance Hotels specializes in adaptations of old buildings such as with the Hotel Murano in Tacoma, WA, which used to be a conference Sheraton, but now includes glass art by 46 artists including Seattle's Dale Chihuly. In 2013, Sondland and Provenance completed a renovation of Portland’s historic Governor Hotel, renaming it Sentinel. In December 2015, Sondland and Provenance announced the establishment of the company's first real estate investment fund, Provenance Hotel Partners Fund I. The $525 million fund was created specifically for hotel real estate investment and, at the time of its announcement, was the fourth largest fund ever launched in the state of Oregon.
Political involvement
Sondland was a member of the transition team for Governor Ted Kulongoski's administration and was appointed by Kulongoski to serve on the board of the Governor's Office of Film & Television. He was appointed the commission’s chair in 2002 and has served in that capacity until 2015. During his tenure on the film board, Sondland was instrumental in bringing the production of such television series as Leverage, The Librarians and Grimm to Oregon and presided over the state securing the production of feature-length films such as Wild starring Reese Witherspoon, Thumbsucker starring Tilda Swinton and The Ring Two starring Naomi Watts. Sondland also served as Oregon liaison to the White House. As an advisor to Kulongoski, Sondland suggested appointing Ted Wheeler as state treasurer, which Kulongoski did in 2010. In 2007 President George W. Bush appointed Sondland as a member of the Commission on White House Fellows. Sondland collaborates with President Bush and Jay Leno on an annual charitable auction of an autographed vehicle, with proceeds benefitting the Fisher House Foundation and the George W. Bush Foundation’s Military Service Initiative.
In April 2017 it was revealed that Sondland covertly donated $1 million to the Donald Trump inaugural committee through 4 affiliated companies.
Philanthropy
Sondland serves on the board of trustees at the Oregon Health & Science University foundation. Sondland joined the board of trustees at the Portland Art Museum in 1996 and was elected chair of the executive committee in 2009. The Trustee Room at the Portland Art Museum is named after Sondland and his wife Katherine Durant.
Sondland founded the Gordon Sondland and Katherine J. Durant Foundation in 1993, which was established to "help families and boost communities". The Foundation has given millions of dollars to various non-profits including $1,000,000 to the Portland Art Museum to endow permanent access for children under the age of eighteen. The Foundation helped establish a Distinguished Chair in Spine for pediatric orthopedic spine research at the Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children in 2012. Sondland and the Foundation partnered with the River Club in 2013 to provide breakfast for the foreseeable future for students of the Simonga Basic School in Zambia. In 2014, the Foundation gave a $1,000,000 endowment to Oregon Health & Science University to establish the Sondland-Durant Distinguished Research Conference, a cancer research summit to begin in 2016.
Personal life
Sondland is married to Katherine Durant, who is the founder and managing partner of Atlas/RTG, a holding company with a portfolio of shopping centers throughout Oregon. Durant is the Chairperson of the Oregon Investment Council, the body that oversees the over $85 billion Public Employees Retirement System Fund. They have two children.