AUSTIN | JW Marriott Convention Center Hotel | 408 FT | 34 FLOORS | T.O.

[KevinFromTexas]

http://www.hospitalitynet.org/news/1...0/4052444.html

Marriott Hotels & Resorts Announces First Marquis in Texas
4 August 2011

1,003-room Austin Marriott Marquis near convention center slated to open in 2015.

At its scheduled opening in 2015, the 1,003-room Austin Marriott Marquis will be the largest hotel in the city and transform the Austin’s meeting and convention market. Owned and operated by White Lodging Services Corporation, the hotel will join five other landmark Marriott Marquis hotels in New York, Atlanta, San Francisco, San Diego and Washington, D.C. (2013). The Austin Marriott Marquis is scheduled to break ground mid-2012 and will offer 110,000 square feet of flexible meeting space.

During the construction period, the hotel should generate over 550 full-time construction jobs. Once completed, it is estimated the property will have over 725 permanent employees.

Located in the heart of downtown, The Austin Marriott Marquis will be just two blocks from the Austin Convention Center. Plans also include multiple food and beverage venues; 374 underground parking spaces, and a 4,500 square foot fitness center.

[KevinFromTexas]

Updated renderings from the article:

[RobertWalpole]

Cool. This city is booming.

[Cloud92]

ugh its even more horrible in color

[Dale]

It's tons better than the original design.

[Cloud92]

it looks like they didnt change much but is it completely blocking the austonian?

[The ATX]

Originally Posted by Cloud92

it looks like they didnt change much but is it completely blocking the austonian?

It's less than half as tall as the Austonian. So the rendering is misleading.

[Cloud92]

its still bad design i think. a whole block of a flat facade is just wrong it'll stick out in the wrong way

[KevinFromTexas]

I'm thinking this building will be maybe *maybe* 300 feet tall. 301 Congress a block to the north is 306 feet tall, and it appears slightly taller than this hotel, although, it's hard to tell from the angle in the rendering. The Austonian is 683 feet tall, so it's more than twice as tall as this hotel. In fact, this hotel will probably be the shortest building facing Congress south of 5th Street.

[Cloud92]

you think the sides facing congress and 2nd street will have any street level retail

[wwmiv]

All I can say is that a) it is better than the original design and b) it isn't as bad as the Hilton. I'm actually glad that it isn't taller.

[Dale]

Important: it will occupy a bombsite in the middle of downtown Austin.

[KevinFromTexas]

By the way, the Hilton was originally supposed to be 26 floors and 300 feet tall. That was before they changed the design and added 5 floors of condos.

Someone mentioned that this building will block the view of the Austonian, it will somewhat, but we were all expecting something big for this block anyway. And besides, the Manchester Hotel will also block the view of the Austonian on that side of downtown. The views of that side of downtown driving north on I-35 won't be the same once these two hotels are finished. The Manchester Hotel, though, will probably have a roof that is no less than 250 feet higher than this hotel's roof.

[ahealy]

New angle of Marriott Marquis Austin. Found on http://www.hotelnewsresource.com/art..._in______.html

haha, didn't realize y'all beat me to it

[The ATX]

Here are a couple renderings of the Marriot Marquis from HotelNews.com. There is an extensive fluff piece article about Austin with them.

http://www.hotelnewsnow.com/Articles...el-development

AUSTIN, Texas—Because of its unique demand generators, the Austin, Texas, hotel market went into the recession late and seems to be coming out early. And with additional demand generators coming online, including a Circuit of Americas facility that will host a Formula 1 Grand Prix race annually from 2012 to 2020 and another 1,000-room hotel to host conventions, the state capital is booming with hotel development.

[patriotizzy]

WOW. Those new renderings look amazing. I hope these are the final design for the hotel because I'm sold, more so than the previous.

[StoOgE]

Wow.. it's amazing what a nice cladding redesign can bring to the table.

It went from being a somewhat attractive bland design to really cutting edge. And the massing looks identical. I like like the new base... I *love* the brown (copper?) screen that covers the front half of the building.

The 35 side is less inspired, but I would take a plain glass curtain to the ugly stucco of the last design

[MNMike]

What is currently on this site?

[The ATX]

Originally Posted by MNMike

What is currently on this site?

The site was mostly cleared - if not all cleared a year or two ago.

[Thymant]

That second rendering is simply amazing!