AUSTIN | JW Marriott Convention Center Hotel | 408 FT | 34 Floors | Complete - Page 3

BevoLJ · #41 Posted **Aug 5, 2011, 2:18 AM**

I like it. It is kinda a 21 century version of something you would expect to see from the 1940's-60's. With large modern glass areas but contained withing lots of that older looking block shapes.

Personally I am glad this one is going where it is and the other is going where it is. I think the other building is going to be the huge star. This part of Congress already has some kick ass buildings. They are only planning on spending $150 mil or so in whatever they build on this lot. The other one is going to be $350 to $400 mil, and I think it is really going to do wonders for the new Waller Creek area and Rainey Street. Both which I think are going to be very important in the future. This building is going to bring 1k rooms to 2nd and Congress. That is what is important about it. Congress has Frost and the Austonian right there already. Having a 50 story hotel there isn't going to do for that area what it will do for the Waller Creek and Rainey Street IMO.

The one huge complaint I have about it is the east side. The other three sides look cool as hell but the east side of it is completely bla. It has none of the cool stuff you see on the rest of the building. (I'm assuming the north side looks a lot like the south and west side. Which may be a dumb assumption, who knows?)

MichaelB · #42 Posted **Aug 5, 2011, 5:21 PM**

Pleasantly surprised by the design. White Lodging building are usually far worse....just look at the previous design! The tower is typical for them. Bland and cheap. That looks the same as the original. BUT, I am just really happy that the congress facade is kinda cool. It is remarkably trendy for a company that usually plays it far safer. I think we dodged a big ugly bullet here!

If the finish out is good it should be a nice addition to Congress.

And I agree with BevoLJ, I am glad this one is where it is. And I am glad they pushed the tower off Congress a bit.

MightyYoda · #43 Posted **Aug 5, 2011, 8:45 PM**

I can agree with that. I do like that the tower is not right on Congress as well. My biggest issue is the back of the tower coming right to the street with no other interaction. Still it is true that we could do worse such as the original design. At least it won't block the view of Frost!

KevinFromTexas · #44 Posted **Aug 5, 2011, 10:19 PM**

Yeah, I'm certain now that it won't block the view of Frost. I'm thinking this building will only be about 300 feet tall. I remember the original design for the Hilton was a good bit different from the one we see today, and it was also 26 floors and 300 feet tall. That was before they added 5 floors of condos.

I had done a mock up model of this hotel last month with my LEGO model, and even with the hotel tower butting right up against Congress, at 300 feet the hotel wouldn't have blocked the view of Frost. It would have started to block the view if it had been 350 feet or taller. But I don't think it'll be that tall, and the tower is stepped back significantly from Congress. The building might even just barely show up on the skyline from South Congress at this design. One Congress Plaza will be nearly 100 feet taller than the hotel and is a really wide building.

And while I do wish the east side facade looked better, it's going to be pretty well hidden. Remember that there is the Hampton Inn a block east and the new planned Hyatt Place as well. And then there's the Manchester Hotel which will completely dominate that side of downtown anyway.

I'm hoping for some interesting accent lighting with this building. I'd like to see those boxes on the roof light with flood lights from inside. It could be an interesting look.

KevinFromTexas · #45 Posted **Aug 5, 2011, 10:23 PM**

Here are the bigger renderings I grabbed from that article.

MightyYoda · #46 Posted **Aug 5, 2011, 10:43 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by KevinFromTexas

I'm hoping for some interesting accent lighting with this building. I'd like to see those boxes on the roof light with flood lights from inside. It could be an interesting look.

That is a really good idea. The open space above the glass really would look good lit up and at least it could be a standout building at night.

Armybrat · #47 Posted **Aug 6, 2011, 11:31 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by MightyYoda

That is a really good idea. The open space above the glass really would look good lit up and at least it could be a standout building at night.

It also looks like it could have a great space for a rooftop garden of some kind, maybe with a restaurant & bar patio overlooking Congress.

KevinFromTexas · #48 Posted **Aug 7, 2011, 5:57 AM**

In addition to lighting the boxes on the roof of the tower, I'd also like to see some flood lighting under the overhangs in the podium (base).

KevinFromTexas · #49 Posted **Aug 24, 2011, 6:54 PM**

So I'm working on trying to get a height for the building.

I got an email back Monday from someone at White Lodging. He says I should check back with him in a month or two because they're working on some details that could affect the building's height by up to 30 feet.

So hopefully then I'll get something back about it.

The original floor numbers that were quoted by the American-Statesman said the hotel would be 27 to 30 floors, but the latest number has been 26.

The ATX · #50 Posted **Sep 2, 2011, 11:36 PM**

Here are a couple renderings of the Marriot Marquis from HotelNews.com. There is an extensive fluff piece article about Austin with them.

http://www.hotelnewsnow.com/Articles...el-development

AUSTIN, Texas—Because of its unique demand generators, the Austin, Texas, hotel market went into the recession late and seems to be coming out early. And with additional demand generators coming online, including a Circuit of Americas facility that will host a Formula 1 Grand Prix race annually from 2012 to 2020 and another 1,000-room hotel to host conventions, the state capital is booming with hotel development.

BevoLJ · #51 Posted **Sep 3, 2011, 12:19 AM**

Oh, wow. That looks really nice. Now I don't know what to think of that place, or what to expect. Looks like they are still figuring out the design and aren't quite done with it yet.

KevinFromTexas · #52 Posted **Sep 3, 2011, 1:54 AM**

This looks much better. Much more like a hotel I'd want to stay in. It looks more warm and organic. The other design looks too cold and inhuman. It still doesn't have a green roof, though.

The ATX · #53 Posted **Sep 3, 2011, 2:18 AM**

I wonder if the superior design of the Manchester Financial Group's 5-star hotel caused White Lodging to step it up?

TXAlex · #54 Posted **Sep 3, 2011, 2:32 AM**

That west facing screen is great! It would be cool with thin film solar on the screen. This is a far superior design.

Jdawgboy · #55 Posted **Sep 3, 2011, 10:02 PM**

FINALLY, now that is nice! I don't even care about the height at this point if the design will look like that. If the east facing side will be glass over that ugly stucco crap, then I think it will look pretty sleek and I do love the west facing overlay and the roof. I hope they have finally nailed the design. I also noticed that there is no wing on the north end of the hotel anymore, does this mean it might be a little taller? If its going to be the same amount of rooms and they removed that wing they have to put those rooms somewhere unless the length is gonna be extended longer on the back side of the block.

migol24 · #56 Posted **Sep 4, 2011, 5:54 AM**

I assume that the bottom portion will take the longest, just like the W. But considering that this building isn't so tall, this shouldn't take too long to go up. I can't wait.

Downtown_Austin · #57 Posted **Sep 4, 2011, 3:58 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hill Country

This seems to be an older rendering - they're depicting the old version of the Austonian.

Jdawgboy · #58 Posted **Sep 4, 2011, 6:13 PM**

I don't think its an older rendering, I have never seen this rendering before and it has never been posted on here before. My thinking is they just threw in rough placement renderings for where the surrounding buildings are. If you look at the Frost it also looks odd. I did notice that the Austonian design was the older version but I think its just for placement in correlation with the hotel.

the Genral · #59 Posted **Sep 9, 2011, 7:03 AM**

Looks like they stole my glass facade idea from my what if thread. Where do I send the bill? lol.

KevinFromTexas · #60 Posted **Nov 10, 2011, 2:02 AM**

I sent out some emails for a few building heights. I got an email back for it.

Marriott:

33 floors
403 feet 8 inches to top of mechanical penthouse
375 feet 6 inches to the top of "tower" (the main roof I guess)
117 feet to top of podium (the base of the building)

That's cool that the Marriott will be another 400 footer. At 403 feet to the top of the mechanical penthouse, it'll make it 2 feet taller than the Four Seasons Residences, to be the 7th tallest in the city.