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

[ivanwolf]

I think they are too waiting for the Waller Creek Tunnel to get done too. Also they may be waiting of FEMA or someone to determine flood status. That could determine types of construction on the ground floor or insurance premiums to build and such. Maybe looking to get a LOMAR in place first or started but can't due to the uncompleted tunnel? currently the property is nearly completely in the 500yr floodplain and the corner is in the 100yr. So those issues could play into their delays as they could impact construction costs depending how they have to start the building.

[Homecreek]

It looked like they were moving the utility poles on the north end of the lot today. Maybe just maybe.......

[Austin1971]

New month. Any news?

[Spaceman]

Originally Posted by Austin1971

New month. Any news?

Nope.......too quiet

[the Genral]

I've kinda gotten over the Fairmont right now. If it gets built, great...if not, there's plenty of other significant towers being built. Plus, the JW Marriott is such a huge and beautiful building, better than most of us expected, its sort of compensates for the lack of progress on the Fairmont. So as of now, I'll go on record as saying I no longer care if this thing gets built or not.

[wwmiv]

I still really, really want this one built.

[Spaceman]

Originally Posted by wwmiv

I still really, really want this one built.

Waller Center, now the Fairmont...This part of DT is having a problem with large projects..It is obvious when viewed from I 35..

[lzppjb]

Originally Posted by Spaceman

Waller Center, now the Fairmont...This part of DT is having a problem with large projects..It is obvious when viewed from I 35..

Both of those projects are still in the Waller Creek 100 year floodplain, technically.

[Homecreek]

Well I think this actually might get started. The City's permit site has "Trenching and Conduit Plans for Relocation of Overhead Lines along Red River" which were approved last month and I saw some work being done on the north end of the lot. The first attachment shows Manchester Texas Financial as the developer. SPL-SP-2013-0273DS_0~001.

[lzppjb]

I'm just not all that worried about this project. My confidence hasn't wavered yet. I just think there are factors we don't know about that are delaying it.

[Digatisdi]

I agree. I'm nearly 100% positive they're waiting for the Waller Creek Tunnel to be either complete or near complete, especially because if you look at the most recent updates on construction it requires nightly closures of Cesar Chavez and Red River streets.

Plus, the fact that the Marriott is essentially booked solid for conferences until... What was it? 2020? shows me there's a good enough market for a foray by Fairmont.

But honestly I can't deny my wishful thinking could be clouding my judgement because I remember my first time at a Fairmont was Christmas Day in Bermuda and it was absolutely wonderful--flawless and every stay in a Fairmont hotel after that has more than exceeded my expectations, and I'd love to see the Fairmont brand in Austin.

[bigdogc]

Originally Posted by Homecreek

Well I think this actually might get started. The City's permit site has "Trenching and Conduit Plans for Relocation of Overhead Lines along Red River" which were approved last month and I saw some work being done on the north end of the lot. The first attachment shows Manchester Texas Financial as the developer. SPL-SP-2013-0273DS_0~001.

I can confirm, I leave for work and pass by this every day around 845am. I always see 4-5 construction workers in the lot/alley.

In due time.. I hope!

[KevinFromTexas]

El Nino is supposed to be starting up again, and that usually sets up rainy conditions for us. This article below says it could be a particularly strong one on the level of the one we had in 1998, and there were some floods that year. I remember us getting 10 to 12 inches of rain that fall and me having to sweep the water away from our house with it pouring down rain.

http://kxan.com/2014/03/06/here-come...-weather-woes/

[Digatisdi]

On the plus side it might pull us out of drought for a bit... On the downside is of course the probable flooding will have on residents and construction projects, so with this info I wouldn't be surprised if they wait until the tunnel is online. Thanks for the link, Kevin.

[lzppjb]

Please God, let us get a strong El Nino and some big time rain events this Fall/Winter.

Farmer's Almanac predicted a very wet winter for us. Maybe they were off by a few months.

[MightyYoda]

The weird part about our current conditions is that we aren't in a drought regarding plants and such, but our lake levels are still so low because a lot of the rain we have received over the last 6 months wasn't further to the west. We have actually been at or above precipitation averages the last couple of years I believe.

[Jdawgboy]

Originally Posted by MightyYoda

The weird part about our current conditions is that we aren't in a drought regarding plants and such, but our lake levels are still so low because a lot of the rain we have received over the last 6 months wasn't further to the west. We have actually been at or above precipitation averages the last couple of years I believe.

While its true we have been at or above average for yearly rainfall the past 2 years, when you have 2 to 3 months of bone dry weather than a month or two of flooding, it does little to help even the soil moisture let alone the lake levels. This winter is ranked as the 4th driest on record. What soil moisture that was replenished with the floods this past October is gone. We need the rainfall to be distributed throughout the year so considering we recieved nearly half our annual rainfall last year in one month to push us over our average is just a number and really doesn't take into account how abnormally long the dry periods have become. Also people forget that when we have a ton of rain fall in a short amount of time, most of that runs off before really soaking into the ground. Another thing to remember is only pockets of Central Texas ended up at or above average, that includes our two official recording areas but the majority of the region did not fare so well.

[KevinFromTexas]

We really need more frequent average rains to get us back to where we need to be rather than huge floods. The way I heard it described, which made some sense, was imagine taking a bone dry sponge, all hard and dry, and dunking it into a sink basin very fast and then pulling it back out. The sponge would be wet but wouldn't have had time to soak up a lot of water. That's what those huge rains do. We might get a ton of rain, but most of it just becomes runoff. That's why it floods in the first place. The ground can't soak up the water fast enough, so it just runs off. A slower rain of 10 to 12 inches over 2 weeks would be more what we'd need and would end our drought. I remember back in 2007 we had rain like that where the lakes were actually above flood stage. I remember it raining here nearly every day for 2 weeks. It was incredible. It wasn't even heavy rain, just slow steady rain. Of course if you get a heavy rain like we had back in October right on top of the lake it would simply fill the lake. It's when we get it over dry land that it just runs off and also evaporates before it can reach the lakes.

[Syndic]

By the way, there's a huge tent on the Fairmont lot right now, so yeah, all of that activity we saw was for SXSW.

[Jdawgboy]

That's a great analogy Kevin.

If im not mistaken, MTV's Woody Awards will be on that site as it has been for the past couple of years. Lets hope they have to find a new spot next year.