Joe Kline / Bulletin file photoThe Riverhouse Hotel & Convention Center on NE Third Street in Bend, seen here in February. A proposal is afoot to double the state lodging tax to raise money toward the cost of the world track and field championships, scheduled to be held in Eugene in 2021.

The owners of The Riverhouse Hotel & Convention Center in Bend are planning to sell to a Washington hospitality company.

Wayne Purcell, whose family owns The Riverhouse, said Wednesday the parties are working out details of the sale of the hotel, restaurant and convention center, which sit on roughly 12 acres at Mt. Washington Drive and NE Third Street. The family also owns the River’s Edge Golf Course and land, which would not be part of the sale.

“We do have a company that’s made an offer on the property. There are some contingencies,” said Purcell, who declined to say what the selling price would be.

That company is Vesta Hospitality of Vancouver, Washington. Vesta President and CEO Rick Takach confirmed the parties are passed the negotiating stage but declined to discuss details of the sale. Vesta develops and manages hotels and owns seven of them, including the Comfort Suites in Redmond.

The Purcell family opened The Riverhouse in 1974 and added rooms over the decades, growing to 76,700 square feet, according to the Deschutes County Assessor’s Office records. The first nine holes of the golf course were built in 1987 and nine more added in 1994, according to The Riverhouse’s website.

The 53,300-square-foot convention center opened in 2006 after years of legal wrangling with neighbors and city officials. Purcell was recognized by Economic Development for Central Oregon in 2007 for building the $15 million center, which the Purcell family personally financed. The hotel and restaurant got a makeover in 2008, giving them an upscale, Northwest-lodge feel to match the convention center.

Purcell said the family has been open to selling for years and now seemed to be the right time, noting his parents and co-owners, Mary Lou and Clyde Purcell, are both in their 80s.

The deciding factor, Purcell said, was finding the right company. There had been offers before, but the family had not advertised the property for sale and Vesta approached the family, Purcell said.

“It’s really a challenging business. We’ve never been closed one second of the day since (opening),” he said. “We knew it was time to start looking for (a buyer).”

He said details of the sale would be worked out over the next month, adding he expects Vesta to keep staff in place. Takach said Vesta has no plans to make immediate changes.

“It’s absolutely a gem,” he said. “We think that it has great character. It has been well-maintained. We really like the potential of that hotel.”

In an email to The Bulletin, Doug La Placa of Visit Bend, which promotes tourism for the city of Bend, called The Riverhouse a valuable component of Bend’s tourism industry.

“The Purcell family has done an outstanding job building and managing a world-class facility that contributes significantly to our regional economy. If the sale is completed, the Visit Bend staff and board of directors will be ready to work closely with the new ownership group to make sure they have the support they need to continue the Riverhouse’s legacy of success,” La Placa wrote.

— Reporter: 541-617-7837,

aspegman@bendbulletin.com