Austin | Austin Marriott Downtown | 386' | 31-Stories | Complete

[The ATX]

The latest convention center hotel proposal has been confirmed as a Marriott brand.  The site plan filing from yesterday indicates the brand but does not have any building information yet.

Up until now this project has been referred to as either the Block 8 or Cesar Chavez hotel.  It's being developed by Indy based White Lodging who also built the JW Marriott convention center hotel and the Westin that were completed last year.  They are also building the U/C Aloft & Element hotel.  Here's one of the renderings that I previously posted in the Proposed Projects Compilation thread:  

Community Impact 

[The ATX]

Here's the link to the site plan.  Updates about the project including building information will get added to it as it progresses through the approval process:  

Site Plan

[The ATX]

This one is close to being approved.  There was another permit filing today indicating that it's moving forward, and more information was added to the site plan.  The height was previously estimated to be 30-stories based on the rendering.  But new info in the site plan indicates that it will be 27-stories with four underground parking levels.

Updated Site Plan 

[The ATX]

I'm hoping for an updated rendering and construction schedule in the near future because this developer (White Lodging) doesn't mess around, and they sometimes finance their own projects - like they did for the awesome U/C Aloft & Element Hotel.  The site plan says this project will have 610 rooms.  That will make it the fourth largest downtown hotel:  

#1 Fairmont - 1,066 Rooms (U/C with summer 2017 opening)

#2 JW Marriott - 1,012 rooms (Opened in 2015)

#3 Hilton - 800 rooms (First convention center hotel, opened in early 2000s)

#4 Marriott - 610 rooms (Start date unknown)

 

[The ATX]

On the same day that I thought a rendering might be forthcoming (see previous post) a rendering happened.  The height is back up to 30-stories, and it has 615 rooms.  The original rendering had it connected to the convention center expansion.  But the city has been dragging their feet on the expansion (as they usually do with anything important), and the new rendering does not include the CC expansion.

Statesman Article

[The ATX]

A demo permit was filed today to clear the site.

[The ATX]

Marriott has a website for this hotel already even though it states that the hotel won't open until July, 2021.  The developer plans to start construction this summer.  It won't take four years to build a 30-story hotel.  

Marriott @ Cesar Chavez

[The ATX]

The site plan was released today.  I updated the thread title with new height info.  There are 32 floors when they are counted ground up on the tower side.  There are also four underground parking levels.  Here's one of the elevations.

[The ATX]

We've got some new renderings,  This is going to have awesome street interaction in a current dead zone.  This will help tie the 6th St. and Rainey St. Entertainment districts together.

Austin Design Commision

[The ATX]

We're now inundated with renderings thanks to an upcoming Design Commission meeting about this project.  Demo permits were filed today to clear all three buildings on the site.  Here are some more renderings.

 

 

The proposed convention center expansion is the threeish blocks to the left of this project in this rendering:  

[The ATX]

The site plan was approved and released yesterday.  This should be breaking ground in the very near future.

[The ATX]

This one should be getting underway next Monday (08/28) according to a Demo permit filed today.  This project was planned as the southern anchor of a large convention center expansion.  But of course city leadership is always stuck in La La Land when big decisions are on the table.  At least this privately developed portion isn't wasting time.  

Austin TOWERS.net took some photos of the fencing that went up around the site this weekend in preparation for the Demo.  Three buildings in addition to some surface parking are set for Demo.

One building was a Formula 1 visitor center.

 

 

Another one was a Mexican restaurant.

 

The third one was a Christian Science reading center.

[The ATX]

Recent document filings with the city have updated start dates from the developers of several projects.  This one is currently set for this month.  The area is fenced for demo as my previous post shows.  But they are waiting for some final approvals.  

[The ATX]

This one got underway yesterday.

TOWERS.net

[The ATX]

The site has been cleared, and excavation for the underground parking levels should be getting started soon.

Bisnow

[The ATX]

No new pictures, but excavation for the underground parking levels got underway immediately after the demo.  This is not a new rendering, but the logo on top was redesigned.

Bisnow

[The ATX]

This project has a webcam now.  The proposed convention center expansion would be where the blocks of low-rises are located next to the site prep for this hotel.  One of the expansion proposals includes another tower opposite this hotel tower at the other end of the proposed expansion area.  But the City is really dragging their feet on the expansion because there is political opposition.  Things like convention centers and stadiums are not well liked around here. 

[The ATX]

This was taken from the construction webcam this afternoon.  They appear to be doing "top-down" construction.  This type of construction is apparently much quicker than excavating the underground levels (four in this case) first because work on the super structure can take place at the same time as the walls are built for the below ground levels. 

[The ATX]

I changed the status of this one to U/C.  The site has been very busy over the past two weeks with convoys of cement trucks all day long.  It's  interesting to watch the "Top Down" construction.  Here's a video with a simplistic visual of Top Down construction.

 

[The ATX]

The tower cranes are not up yet, but this project will have two.  One will be 208' for the podium construction, and the other will be 485' for the tower construction.

Link

[eastsider]

great looking project

[The ATX]

2 hours ago, eastsider said:

great looking project

It was planned as the anchor of a proposed three block convention center expansion.   The City has become anti-growth in a lot of ways and put the expansion on ice for now.  At least the hotel developers moved forward.

Did you used to live in Austin?  At one time you pretty much single handedly kept the Austin section alive.

  

[The ATX]

The excavation is well underway.  The walls for the four underground levels were poured before excavation started.

[The ATX]

The construction webcam for this one has been offline for a couple weeks.    But recent permit filings indicate that there will be an overnight mat slab foundation pour the third weekend in July and the first of two tower cranes is going up the fourth weekend in July. 

[The ATX]

The hotel's website has been updated, and the opening date has been moved up by one year since the last time I checked.  It's now planned to open in two years - July 2020.  They are also apparently going with the boring but truthful name of "Austin Downtown Marriott."