AUSTIN | Projects & Construction III

[ahealy]

Originally Posted by Hill Country

16-story Hotel Van Zandt (Kimpton) to start construction in June.

50-story Fairmont Hotel to start construction in October.

http://www.bizjournals.com/austin/bl...-to-break.html

Best news I could've read! Besides seaholm and green breaking ground......
Headed from Seattle to Portland today! Gonna be comparing both cities. Have a good day, y'all

[Austin1971]

Originally Posted by Hill Country

16-story Hotel Van Zandt (Kimpton) to start construction in June.

50-story Fairmont Hotel to start construction in October.

http://www.bizjournals.com/austin/bl...-to-break.html

Looks like the Fairmont keeps getting pushed back. I have serious doubts whether or not this hotel will ever break ground......I'd give it a 40% chance.....

[sammyk]

Originally Posted by ivanwolf

Some pics from today of the JW Marriott site.

What would the quarter sized tower crane base like thing be in this pic. Maybe a small crane to come?

Probably for a concrete boom tower.

[MightyYoda]

Originally Posted by Austin1971

Looks like the Fairmont keeps getting pushed back. I have serious doubts whether or not this hotel will ever break ground......I'd give it a 40% chance.....

Someone correct me if I am wrong, but there seems to be a 6 month rule when it comes to "breaking ground". If you announce you are breaking ground in less than 6 months, it is means it's going to happen bar something major. I have started dreading the 6+ month groundbreaking because it seems to be the kiss of death to projects. It sounds like Van Zandt is happening and Fairmont being continually pushed back is not a good sign. Anything post summer worries me.

[Dale]

Seeming interminable delays are, I'm guessing, the rule and not the exception.

[MightyYoda]

I will say this after reading more about the announcement by Fairmont, I may have been too judgemental. Reading the tea leaves, it sounds more than anything like they are giving a ~year of space between the opening of the Marriott and the Fairmont.

[Syndic]

Where are you getting that idea? They just said they're starting construction in October. I wish y'all wouldn't be so pessimistic. I'm very optimistic about this project. Downtown Austin is only going to get more attractive by then. Plenty of projects should be underway by then.

[MightyYoda]

Originally Posted by Syndic

Where are you getting that idea? They just said they're starting construction in October. I wish y'all wouldn't be so pessimistic. I'm very optimistic about this project. Downtown Austin is only going to get more attractive by then. Plenty of projects should be underway by then.

It's obviously speculation, but it seems many of the projects over the last few years that posted groundbreaking dates that far out never happened. However as I said in my last post, after reading additional statements from the developers, I don't think it may mean anything bad in this case.

I have been a bit pessimistic lately because of the government killing the planetarium, seaholm and green seeming to be on life support, and 3rd and Colorado on a deadline to fill tenants or it will be on life support as well. These are mine and probably most other's favorite projects and I am increasingly concerned they won't happen.

[ahealy]

Originally Posted by MightyYoda

It's obviously speculation, but it seems many of the projects over the last few years that posted groundbreaking dates that far out never happened. However as I said in my last post, after reading additional statements from the developers, I don't think it may mean anything bad in this case.

I have been a bit pessimistic lately because of the government killing the planetarium, seaholm and green seeming to be on life support, and 3rd and Colorado on a deadline to fill tenants or it will be on life support as well. These are mine and probably most other's favorite projects and I am increasingly concerned they won't happen.

Yah, I am in the same boat. I think it's ridiculous that they all make these announcements and NOTHING ever happens. It's getting really old.
PS. Does it mean anything that Manchester went public days after JW is in a lil tiff with worker payments? Could JW stop construction?

[LoneStarMike]

Originally Posted by MightyYoda

Reading the tea leaves, it sounds more than anything like they are giving a ~year of space between the opening of the Marriott and the Fairmont.

Originally Posted by Syndic

Where are you getting that idea?

He's getting that idea from the article which states:

A short distance away at Red River and Cesar Chavez streets, Manchester Texas Financial Group LLC is planning to break ground in October on the Fairmont Austin, a 50-story, 1,000-room hotel that will be the second highest building in the city behind The Austonian condominiums.

It’s scheduled to open in June 2016, about a year after the 34-story, 1,000-room JW Marriott is delivered.

I personally think that's a good plan. Look at all the condos that have been built downtown. They weren't completed all at the same time. They had staggered opening dates so the market would have time to absorb all the units. I think if you had two huge convention center hotels open within months of each other, it would be too many rooms all at once.

And for the pessimists in this thread (not you, Syndic) I also liked Manchester's comments about Austin at the end of the article:

He [Doug Manchester]wants to see a major push to develop the Austin Convention Center into a more viable product that could vie against such popular convention towns as San Diego, where his company was started.

“I’d like to champion that,” Manchester said.

He said he likes the dynamics of the Austin market, given that it has one of the highest rates of occupancy for Saturday nights. Most cities see a dramatic drop in hotel occupancy on the weekends.

“The reason we are here is that we saw the incredible potential of Austin,” Manchester said.

[KevinFromTexas]

Originally Posted by MightyYoda

Someone correct me if I am wrong, but there seems to be a 6 month rule when it comes to "breaking ground". If you announce you are breaking ground in less than 6 months, it is means it's going to happen bar something major. I have started dreading the 6+ month groundbreaking because it seems to be the kiss of death to projects. It sounds like Van Zandt is happening and Fairmont being continually pushed back is not a good sign. Anything post summer worries me.

I'm not worried. Heck, the Hotel Van Zandt is a project that was first announced in 2006. If anything the delay is because of the slow permitting process which was noted as being 3 to 6 months in one recent article. And actually, it seems like most projects break ground in either Spring or Fall. The Marriott broke ground in Fall, Frost did, too. My guess is it's because of our climate.

[Syndic]

Originally Posted by ahealy

Yah, I am in the same boat. I think it's ridiculous that they all make these announcements and NOTHING ever happens. It's getting really old.
PS. Does it mean anything that Manchester went public days after JW is in a lil tiff with worker payments? Could JW stop construction?

That's a scary prospect, but I think they're bluffing. The idea that they were only going to build the hotel with the $3.8 million fee waiver is probably BS. And the city government would likely cave on the wage requirement since corrupt jackass Rudy Garza (he's the guy who got his own business designated a minority-owned business, thus giving it special benefits) unilaterally gave White Lodging the go-ahead and he represented the city. So I'd say there's very little chance that construction on the JW Marriott will stop.

[lzppjb]

$3.8 million is a drop in the bucket. That won't stop construction, I don't think.

[The ATX]

Here's an article from Community Impact that sums up the downtown hotel boom pretty well. Although there's nothing new for those who follow Austin closely:

http://impactnews.com/articles/sizab...2%80%99s-core/

Here's a good picture of the JW Marriott site from that same article:

[Syndic]

So I'm guessing those two square things are the elevator shafts, right near the entrance? The tower portion is going to be pretty slender on the eastern side. This construction is moving along pretty quickly, too, for its size. Pretty soon it's going to be above ground level. Then it's just up, up, up.

[MightyYoda]

Originally Posted by KevinFromTexas

I'm not worried. Heck, the Hotel Van Zandt is a project that was first announced in 2006. If anything the delay is because of the slow permitting process which was noted as being 3 to 6 months in one recent article. And actually, it seems like most projects break ground in either Spring or Fall. The Marriott broke ground in Fall, Frost did, too. My guess is it's because of our climate.

On Manchester I agree as I thought about it more after my initial comment. I am still worried about 3rd and Colorado and the whole Seaholm project.

[KevinFromTexas]

http://www.statesman.com/news/busine...owntown/nWd7L/

Posted: 5:51 p.m. Friday, March 1, 2013
Austin firm buys high-profile parcel downtown

By Shonda Novak
American-Statesman Staff

Austin-based World Class Capital Group has made another downtown land purchase, buying the remainder of the block surrounding the 56-story Austonian skyscraper, Austin’s tallest building.

World Class Capital Group, an investment and asset management firm, bought the tract as a long-term investment and “has no immediate plans for development of the site,” Nate Paul, its president and CEO, told the American-Statesman via e-mail. The site is 59,000 square feet, about double the size of the site that the Austonian was built on.

If developed to the density the Austonian was approved for, the site “could exceed 1.4 million square feet of development, making it one of the largest and most dense development sites in downtown Austin,” Paul said.

[MichaelB]

Originally Posted by KevinFromTexas

http://www.statesman.com/news/busine...owntown/nWd7L/

Was reading that article this am.
Ends with a great quote by "Mindy Ellmer" about obstructed views. It's the realistic "view".

[Austin1971]

Originally Posted by Syndic

Where are you getting that idea? They just said they're starting construction in October. I wish y'all wouldn't be so pessimistic. I'm very optimistic about this project. Downtown Austin is only going to get more attractive by then. Plenty of projects should be underway by then.

I guess I'm just being greedy. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine Austin would ever get a 1000+ room hotel. Having lived here my entire life it truly is amazing how things have changed and will continue to change.

[Syndic]

Apparently, there's some SXSW event at the Whitley. http://hypem.com/hotel/

Their Facebook page says that some residents have already moved in. But it looks like they're going to get the road finished just in the nick of time. It's still blocked off at the moment, with only 4 days to go.