AUSTIN | Fairmont Hotel | 595 FEET SPIRE/456 FT ROOF | 37 FLRS | Complete

[lzppjb]

Probably the Sandler movie.

[Syndic]

Does anyone know where the January projected start date came from? If I remember correctly, the last we heard from the developers was "early next year (2014)".

[Austin1971]

Originally Posted by Syndic

Does anyone know where the January projected start date came from? If I remember correctly, the last we heard from the developers was "early next year (2014)".

Can't remember the article but it mentioned a January groundbreaking. I'm patient because this is going to be one of the largest and most expensive projects built in DT. If I had to guess I bet groundbreaking will take place sometime after March.

[Austin1971]

In a recent article in the AAS Doug Manchester said that site work began last year and that it will continue as designs are completed, construction costs are nailed down and their final decisions with respect to financing are made.....

Translation.....there's a lot of work that still needs to be done before this thing breaks ground.

[Spaceman]

Originally Posted by Austin1971

In a recent article in the AAS Doug Manchester said that site work began last year and that it will continue as designs are completed, construction costs are nailed down and their final decisions with respect to financing are made.....

Translation.....there's a lot of work that still needs to be done before this thing breaks ground.

Uh oh....

[GoldenBoot]

Originally Posted by Austin1971

In a recent article in the AAS Doug Manchester said that site work began last year and that it will continue as designs are completed, construction costs are nailed down and their final decisions with respect to financing are made.....

Translation.....there's a lot of work that still needs to be done before this thing breaks ground.

That's an old quote. Little Doug was quoted as saying that exact same thing several months back.

It is very possible that in what ever recent article you read, the Statesman didn't pick up the phone to get a new quote from Doug...they just regurgitated his old one not even thinking that it could cause a stir in the chatroom universe.

I would not worry. Fairmont still has Austin listed on its "Properties in Development" page of their website. Should they feel that the project was going to fall through, they'd pull that information from their site immediately.

[the Genral]

I don't know about that GoldenBoot. I read that article today too, and the paper indicated that Doug Manchester told the AAS Monday what, yes, we all heard before. The fact that he mentioned that site work began last year would indicate that he could have spoken to the AAS as recently as yesterday or at least the last 28 days. But I do believe the AAS probably reached out to him because the sidebar to the article about the topping out of the JW was how the JW and future hotel rooms would help bring in new and larger conventions.
Has anyone actually seen any site work being done? Manchester said it would continue while designs are completed and construction costs are nailed down. I wonder if they are trying to avoid the wage and lawsuit issues JW is having with the City of Austin by having everything scrutinized. No matter what the case may be, they don't seem to be in too big of a hurry to break ground. JW is set to have over 700 construction workers working on the hotel next month and can't seem to get it finished soon enough. The project is said to be 3 weeks ahead of schedule, while the Fairmont keeps falling further behind. I think Manchester is saying the same thing today as he did a few months ago because nothing has changed. They are still updating the designs, construction costs, and financing. With the pre booking success of the JW, 208k room nights already reserved, perhaps Manchester is getting better offers from lending institutions that are eager to deal in this less risky than a few years ago, venture. I'm guessing he's biding his time for the best deal.

[lzppjb]

Could they also be waiting for Waller Creek to be closer to finished?

[hereinaustin]

Originally Posted by lzppjb

Could they also be waiting for Waller Creek to be closer to finished?

That was also my guess.

[MightyYoda]

Originally Posted by hereinaustin

That was also my guess.

Speculation, but I get the feeling it is a combination of worker/crane shortage that will work itself out soon enough (spend less money) and better timing the completion of Fairmont with renovation of Waller Creek.

[austlar1]

They must be waiting for the financing to be in place. They can't build without the money. If they had the money in place, dirt would be moving. That has always been the mystery element about this project. They never reveal any financing details unlike other projects that do get built. I am not saying this project won't happen. They have done a tremendous amount of planning, etc. I suspect that the lenders (or partners) are reluctant for whatever reason to make a final commitment. Hopefully that will resolve soon.

[MightyYoda]

Originally Posted by austlar1

They are waiting for the financing to be in place. They can't build without the money. If they had the money in place, dirt would be moving.

I thought I remembered reading a quote that said financing was in place. This would have been last fall sometime, could be wrong for sure.

[austlar1]

The most recent thing I saw posted said that final details regarding partners and financing were pending. They have never announced the name of a lender or lenders (usually a bank or insurance company) for the construction loan. Unless the partners are ponying up all of this money themselves, lender details are normally revealed prior to the start of construction. Usually dirt begins to turn shortly after such an announcement.

[MightyYoda]

Originally Posted by austlar1

The most recent thing I saw posted said that final details regarding partners and financing were pending. They have never announced the name of a lender or lenders (usually a bank or insurance company) for the construction loan. Unless the partners are ponying up all of this money themselves, lender details are normally revealed prior to the start of construction. Usually dirt begins to turn shortly after such an announcement.

Gotcha, thanks for the update.

[austlar1]

Izppjb posted this earlier in the month. He said he found it somewhere else on the web. I thought it was pretty illuminating because I have never seen any information about lenders or other partners in the media. Maybe I have missed something along the way.

Quote:
Fairmont Hotel project should be good to go. Waiting on a few final details and two more partners to get set. What's going to happen along waller creek from Town lake to UT through the Incubation District is going to be nothing short of transformative for our sleepy little town.

[lzppjb]

Yeah, that was from a guy in Austin inside the industry. He's the one that clued us in on the Magellan tower.

[lzppjb]

TheCruiser again hinted that good news is coming soon regarding this project.

[Austin1971]

They need to top it with 300 condos and make it Austin's tallest.....

[AustinSky]

Looks like some fencing is going up around the site. Not sure if it's due to the red river and Chavez street work.

[ahealy]

saw that today. I'd be willing to bet that is the beginning of site work.