A onetime stopover for sailors passing through Portland will play host to travelers again.

A team of investors are in the midst of a $4 million to $5 million renovation of the Mariners Building, built in 1881 at Northwest Third Avenue and Davis Street. It will reopen later this year as the Society Hotel, a combination boutique hotel and hostel.

The building has been empty for more than 30 years, and its upper floors sealed off for nearly 70. Its reinvention is part of a push to reinvigorate Old Town Chinatown, and the Portland Development Commission has loaned $678,000 toward the project.

The hotel will open with 38 private rooms, which are small, and many of which share bathrooms, and 24 bunks, each with a reading light and electric outlets. The rooms will start around $75 a night -- $135 a night for a suite with a private bathroom -- while the bunks start at $35 a night.

"We think that anybody that would consider an Airbnb would consider this property," said Jonathan Cohen, one of the partners.

Amenities will include a rooftop deck -- at four stories, the building is one of the tallest in the immediate neighborhood -- and a lobby cafe with beer and wine service at night.

The extensive renovation, which includes seismic upgrades and the addition of an elevator, is the first since the entire building was lifted in 1891 to add a new ground floor with a cast-iron facade.

"We've done a lot of rebuilding, but not a lot of modification," said Matt Siegel, a partner and general contractor for the project.

Other partners are Jessie Burke, the owner of Posie's Bakery & Cafe in Kenton and founder of the Kenton Street Fair, and Gabe Genauer, founder of Groundswell Development.

The hotel will seek LEED certification upon completion, and it's expected to meet the standards for silver level certification.

The upper floors of the hotel were largely untouched before 2013, when the hotel partners bought the property. The upper floors were frozen in time, with newspapers left open on tables and messages written on the walls. One notes "The Frisco Kid" stopped there before headed south.

The artifacts unearthed in the renovation are being put in storage and will be displayed at the hotel when the hotel reopens.

-- Elliot Njus

enjus@oregonian.com

503-294-5034

@enjus