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Originally Posted by We vs us
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From the ABJ
"Austin-based Hesperus Group LLC is taking over the project and plans to develop a luxury hotel at 1201 Red River St., Nalle said. The company is led by Fausto Barba, who formerly served as vice president of finance and development at Capella Hotel Group. When the Empyrean project was announced in 2017, Capella was in line to be the operator of the hotel.
"They (Hesperus) are working under a contract for a (99-year) ground lease," Nalle said. "We have the ground lease in executable form."
Nalle, who has owned the property since 2003, said it's the perfect site for a hotel because of its location near Waterloo Park and Dell Medical School and its protected views of the Texas State Capitol. He said he is thrilled that it will now be developed.
Barba couldn't immediately be reached for comment on the plans for the new hotel.
Empyrean Development, founded by developers Brett Norwich and Craig Bull, announced in March 2017 plans to develop the 33-story
Hotel Mirabeau.
The New York Times reported in 2016 that President Donald Trump’s name could be attached to a hotel at the Brick Oven site but that deal fell through. The team was seeking $40 million in funding from investors, according to the Times.
Nalle told the Austin American-Statesman at the time that an entity entered into a ground lease on the property to build an upscale hotel. He said he didn’t know the ownership behind the entity leasing his land.
Empyrean Development appears to have dropped out because of delays associated with the completion of the Waller Creek Tunnel, which removes more than 28 acres south of Waterloo Park out of the 100-year floodplain.
“At the time this site plan was approved, the Waller Creek Tunnel project encountered many delays and complications, which extended the original estimated completion date from July 2017 to Aug. 21, 2018, a delay of 13.75 months from when our site development permit was issued,” Jim Wittliff, a land development consultant with Land Answers Inc., wrote in a letter included in the site plan extension request.
The letter goes on to state that city staff prohibited construction on the hotel from starting until the Waller Creek Tunnel project was completed.
“Due to delays in the tunnel’s completion, the original developer was unable to secure the required financing for the project, based on the uncertainty associated with the construction start date,” Wittliff wrote. “Unfortunately, this forced the original developer to withdraw from the project."
The letter continued: “The property owner now has a contract with a new developer and wants to give him adequate time to complete the architectural finish-out plans and begin construction of the project."