Austin | Marriott Hotel at Cesar Chavez | 386 FEET | 31 FLOORS | U/C

[clubtokyo]

What's even more weird, have any of you been to Flix in RR lately, the last two times I've been there they literally have like 5 minute commercial about the autograph collection hotels, I thought this was because they were building soon. Seems early to advertise on something for 2021.

[GoldenBoot]

Originally Posted by We vs us

That's definitely a possibility -- especially if the Marriott is more connected (physically) than we might have first known.

It would be directly connected to an expansion of the convention center.

[GoldenBoot]

Originally Posted by AustinGoesVertical

Wasn't the master plan for the convention center going to include a high-rise on one end, would this count as that or would there be a second tower on the other end built by a different developer in conjunction with the city?

The "high rise" in the proposal would be this hotel - in theory. I do not believe they would build another tower on the other end as this would reduce the amount of exhibit space in the expansion.

[ATXPhil]

I was on a flight home from Dallas two weeks ago and sat next to a girl who works for Marriott in DFW. She was headed Austin for a convention and I asked if she knew anything about the planned convention center hotel here. She said that she didn't know but would ask her colleagues when she got to the convention. We traded business cards and she was nice enough to follow up with an email saying that she spoke to her Austin convention colleague and he confirmed that Marriott was planning a 30-story hotel expected to open in 2019. The way she phrased his response made it sound like Marriott was planning to move ahead with the hotel tower regardless of whether the expansion is approved by voters at the ballot this year. We'll see but I'm hopeful they'll announce plans for the tower either way after finding out if voters approve the expansion or not which would obviously affect their construction timeline. :-)

[We vs us]

Originally Posted by GoldenBoot

It would be directly connected to an expansion of the convention center.

True. But up till now the two seemed independent enough to be built and operated separately. Perhaps that's less the case now than originally was true.

[GoldenBoot]

Originally Posted by We vs us

True. But up till now the two seemed independent enough to be built and operated separately. Perhaps that's less the case now than originally was true.

The two projects have been separate from one another since the beginning. Remember, anything you saw in the "proposal" was - and was clearly stated to be - a "vision." One "vision" had the hotel on the north side...the other, on the south. Speed that up to today - White Lodging has entered into an agreement with the landowner on the south side for their development.

Voters would be highly unlikely to approve an expansion of the convention center if it included building a hotel too (i.e., tax dollars would be spent toward the construction of a hotel). The original idea was for the city and an independent developer to work out a plan to concurrently construct the convention center's expansion and an attached hotel development.

It seems as if White Lodging does not want to wait around for the city to get its s**t together. I don't blame them.

[The ATX]

The site plan is available now. The elevations are near the end of the PDF. It's about 380'.

ftp://ftp.ci.austin.tx.us/ATD_AULCC/...otel_PLANS.pdf

[GoldenBoot]

From the lowest ground point to the architectural top it is right at 386'.

Other items of note from the plans:

-31 stories (there are two "mezzanine" or half levels - and they count "level 13" in the plan)
-613 rooms
-534,393 SF (14.82:1 FAR)
-298 below grade parking spaces (levels B1-B4)

[The ATX]

Originally Posted by GoldenBoot

From the lowest ground point to the architectural top it is right at 385'.

The thread title has been fixed. A ~400' tower will look good at that location.

[GoldenBoot]

Originally Posted by The ATX

A ~400' tower will look good at that location.

100% Agree!

[We vs us]

Originally Posted by GoldenBoot

From the lowest ground point to the architectural top it is right at 386'.

Other items of note from the plans:

-31 stories (there are two "mezzanine" or half levels - and they count "level 13" in the plan)
-613 rooms
-534,393 SF (14.82:1 FAR)
-298 below grade parking spaces (levels B1-B4)

I guess that Marriott landing page is totally wrong now, then. They had the room count at 588, in addition to the inaccurate opening date.

This thing is so slender... it's kind of amazing. 4 levels of meeting space to get everything they need in. By comparison, the Hilton's 80k sq ft of space is on two floors. JW has 100k on 3 levels.

Also, the tower isn't oriented towards Cesar Chavez. Instead it looks like it faces ACC.

[The ATX]

Originally Posted by We vs us

I guess that Marriott landing page is totally wrong now, then. They had the room count at 588, in addition to the inaccurate opening date.

This thing is so slender... it's kind of amazing. 4 levels of meeting space to get everything they need in. By comparison, the Hilton's 80k sq ft of space is on two floors. JW has 100k on 3 levels.

Also, the tower isn't oriented towards Cesar Chavez. Instead it looks like it faces ACC.

There are 25 suites, so 25 + 588 is where the 613 number comes from. I also think they arbitrarily added two years for the opening because of some uncertainty about how the CC expansion would affect the construction time table. I also count 32 floors on the side of the building with the two mezzanine levels.

[KevinFromTexas]

Where are you guys seeing that it's 386 feet? The tallest I can measure is 383 feet using the south elevation.

[GoldenBoot]

I believe the southeast corner of the building drops to street level which is about 3' below what they are calling "Ground." Thus, ~386'.

[We vs us]

Originally Posted by The ATX

There are 25 suites, so 25 + 588 is where the 613 number comes from. I also think they arbitrarily added two years for the opening because of some uncertainty about how the CC expansion would affect the construction time table. I also count 32 floors on the side of the building with the two mezzanine levels.

Good point about the suites, that makes much more sense.

Just saw they submitted a bid to participate in a convention occurring in 2020, so that published date is officially wrong.

I promise I'll stop saying that now.

[KevinFromTexas]

Oh, ok. I see.

[The ATX]

An FAA filing was submitted for the building. From what I've noticed, and FAA filing is as a good as a tower crane permit as an indicator that a project is a go.

https://oeaaa.faa.gov/oeaaa/external...3318409&row=43

[GoldenBoot]

Originally Posted by The ATX

An FAA filing was submitted for the building. From what I've noticed, and FAA filing is as a good as a tower crane permit as an indicator that a project is a go.

https://oeaaa.faa.gov/oeaaa/external...3318409&row=43

Not necessarily true. Hillwood received FAA clearance to develop twin 1000+ ft towers in Dallas about 18 (or so) months ago and nothing has come of that.

[The ATX]

This shows how it would connect to the CC expansion. It would connect via a short sky walk over an alley which answers the question of how they can build this with or without the CC expansion.


http://www.austintexas.gov/edims/document.cfm?id=273650

[We vs us]

Great find.