AUSTIN | Aloft Austin & Element Hotel Downtown | 328 FEET | 31 FLOORS

[KevinFromTexas]

The address is 619 Congress Avenue. The lot is now occupied by a small parking lot. One two story building immediately to the south will be demolished to make room. Starwood Hotels has it listed on their website and states that it'll open in April of 2016.

http://www.bizjournals.com/austin/ne...ss-avenue.html

Jan 7, 2014, 2:50pm CST UPDATED: Jan 7, 2014, 8:10pm CST
Developers ask for new Congress Avenue hotel zoning

Robert Grattan
Staff Writer-
Austin Business Journal

Two Austin property owners have filed documents with the city of Austin that could clear the way for a new hotel and restaurant on Congress Avenue.

The Coventus Corporation and the Finley Company have submitted a request asking the city to allow them to build a portion of a building closer to Congress Avenue as well as work with one off-street loading space of 10 feet by 30 feet, according to documents filed with the city.

The 7th and Congress Hotel project is described as a 450 room hotel with a 5,400-square-foot restaurant, according to the traffic analysis included in city documents.

Starwood Hotels listing
http://www.starwoodhotels.com/corpor...brandFilter=AL

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https://www.austintexas.gov/devrevie...erRSN=11074907

total demolition of a 5004 sqft 2-story, brick and stone commercial building. Party wall with building to the south will be maintained.

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https://www.austintexas.gov/devrevie...erRSN=11069490

The applicant is proposing to re-zone 0.2535 acres from CBD TO CBD-CURE.

[KevinFromTexas]

http://www.austintexas.gov/edims/document.cfm?id=206616

Judging from the renderings it seems to be as tall as the adjacent Stephen F. Austin Hotel and nearby Littlefield Building combined. The Stephen F. Austin Hotel on the left is 188 feet tall, while the Littlefield Building to the right is 147 feet tall. So the new tower appears to be around 335 feet or so.

View from northwest.



View from southwest along Congress.



View from northwest at 7th & Congress.



View from north.



View from west.

[guesswho]

This has to be the largest Aloft hotel in the chain right (in terms of height and room size)? Seems like a good fit for downtown Austin though....the kind of hip, culture chic type hotel will do well.

Do I spot an "Element" sign on one of those renderings? Is this a two brand hotel?

[KevinFromTexas]

This is what the lot looks like today. That 2-story building on the end of that row of buildings will be demolished.

https://www.google.com/maps/@30.2688...Dn0NAl6tVw!2e0

[beverett]

Reminds me of the aLoft in downtown Brooklyn.

[kingkirbythe....]

I want this built as is.

[KevinFromTexas]

I took a few photos yesterday of the skyline from I-35 showing the spot where it'll be.

The old building on the left is the Littlefield Building. The other old building on the right (brown one) is the Driskill Hotel Annex. The new hotel will rise behind that building.



From this angle it will rise with its narrow end directly behind that white building.



It will create a street wall here behind the Driskill Hotel Annex.

[KevinFromTexas]

I counted 33 floors in the rendering, but the media has been calling it 32 floors. So maybe they know something I don't. Either way, the American-Statesman has an article on it. This also says it'll have 410 rooms, we had heard 450 for it.

This says they're planning to break ground in December.

http://www.statesman.com/news/busine...nned-fo/nfP6K/

Posted: 1:09 p.m. Tuesday, April 1, 2014
32-story tower with two Starwood hotels planned for downtown Austin

By Shonda Novak
American-Statesman Staff

White Lodging Services Corp. said today that it plans to build a hotel project in downtown Austin that would have two Starwood-brand hotels in a tower slated to rise 32 stories at Congress Avenue and Seventh Streets.

In an exclusive, White Lodging Services Corp. told the American-Statesman that the project will feature Starwood’s upscale aloft and Element brands, with 410 rooms in all. White Lodging expects to start construction in December, with an anticipated summer 2016 opening, said Deno Yiankes, president and CEO of White Lodging’s investment and development division.

[MNMike]

That is awfully big for an Aloft flag...they are usually smaller.

[The ATX]

Originally Posted by MNMike

That is awfully big for an Aloft flag...they are usually smaller.

It's both an Aloft and an Element which may be why its bigger. But also, the lot it will be on is so small that they had to go up in height.

[KevinFromTexas]

Yeah, this would be one of our skinnier towers. The footprint of the tower (including the building they will demolish) will be about 65 by 160 feet. For comparison, Ashton is 80 by 160 feet.

[KevinFromTexas]

The Downtown Austin Blog is saying it'll be 353 feet with 33 floors.

http://downtownaustinblog.org/2014/0...-congress-ave/

Downtown Austin Aloft & Element Hotel Proposal for Congress Ave

At last night’s Downtown Commission meeting, we heard from White Lodging on their proposed 33 story, 353 foot, 410 key, dual-branded Aloft/Element hotel at 7th & Congress Ave.

One interesting feature of this proposal is there will be zero parking spaces (excluding ADA requirements) and only three valet spots. This isn’t the first Congress Ave hotel concept to propose no onsite parking.

[kingkirbythe....]

I fucking love it.

[KevinFromTexas]

It's basically going to be level with the main roof of the One American Center. It should make a major impact on the skyline. And man, I saw the skyline last night from I-35 on the way back from Round Rock. It was beautiful! Our skyline at night has finally matured. I love the view down the canyons at night from I-35.

[KevinFromTexas]

http://www.austinchronicle.com/news/...ngress-avenue/

Another Hotel Checks In on Congress Avenue
The Hideout has seen the future and it's a 32-story hotel

BY AMY SMITH, FRI., AUG. 1, 2014

With few options left for opponents to secure concessions from a developer, a proposal for a new Downtown hotel heads to City Council Aug. 7 for approval of a zoning change. Plans call for rezoning 619 Con­gress, which houses Wholly Cow Burgers, and demolishing the circa-1850 building to accommodate a 32-story boutique hotel on the property and an adjoining surface lot, home of the Kebabalicious food truck. The hotel will be called Aloft & Element Austin Downtown.

The proposal has won the recommendations of several city commissions that reviewed the plans.

[KevinFromTexas]

The tower will occupy the narrow parking lot here. Also the old skinny building on the end of that block will be demolished to make room for it.

[KevinFromTexas]

Demolition is set to begin this week on the site.

http://www.mystatesman.com/news/busi...3314236.735787

White Lodging is set to begin demolition and site work for a dual-branded hotel with an Aloft and Element in a single tower slated for Seventh Street and Congress Avenue.

[Urbannizer]

We have fencing around the site now.

[Urbannizer]

8/6, Starting from the top now and chipping their way down.

[Urbannizer]

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...&postcount=306

Originally Posted by Flatiron

I'm a long-time lurker and first time poster. I walked by the Aloft construction site yesterday:



Thanks, Kevin, for telling me how the image loading works.