Portman

Portman is an Atlanta-based real estate developer with roots going back to 1953, when architect John Portman reshaped downtown development with the atrium hotel. Today the firm develops hotels, office towers, and mixed-use projects across major U.S. markets and abroad, often pairing its own capital with institutional partners. Portman is the developer behind the 700-room Cincinnati Downtown Marriott convention headquarters hotel, a $540 million project that broke ground in July 2026. The company tends to focus on complex urban sites where hospitality, workplace, and public space meet, the kind of ground-up development that anchors a district rather than filling a single pad.

About Portman Holdings

Portman traces its start to 1957, when architect John C. Portman Jr. put his own money behind a then-radical idea: the architect as developer. That founding logic still runs through the firm, which pairs design ambition with the discipline of owning the outcome. By its own count the company has raised and deployed roughly $20 billion in capital and developed about 80 million square feet, working across 27 active markets with a staff of around 123.

The Atlanta roots are literal. AmericasMart, opened in 1957 as the Atlanta Market Center, grew into a three-building campus totaling seven million square feet, and the Peachtree Center complex now spans 14 downtown blocks. Beyond Georgia, Portman’s fingerprints are on projects that reshaped whole districts: the Embarcadero Center in San Francisco, developed in stages from 1971 to 1989 across eight city blocks; the Westin Bonaventure in Los Angeles; and the Marriott Marquis hotels in Atlanta and New York’s Times Square.

Today the firm works across office, residential, industrial, hospitality and retail, delivering stand-alone buildings and integrated mixed-use developments. Leadership sits with Chairman and CEO Ambrish Baisiwala, President John Portman IV, and Chief Development Officer Travis Garland. The head office remains at 303 Peachtree Center Ave NE in downtown Atlanta.