YNN (Aug 1)
In the coming months, expect to see a lot more construction in Downtown Austin.
Five hotels are planned for the downtown entertainment district. Three hotels will be built along Congress Avenue – two boutique style hotels at Eighth and Fourth Streets and a 1,000-room hotel at Second Street.
A fourth boutique hotel is planned at San Jacinto and Third Street. Another 1,000-room hotel will go in at Red River and Cesar Chavez Streets.
When they’re all complete, Downtown Austin will have 7,000 hotel rooms, most within walking distance of the convention center and entertainment district.
City leaders say the developments will help make Austin more competitive when bidding for larger conventions, significantly boosting its tourism industry.
“People come to Austin, they spend their money. They buy food in restaurants. They visit entertainment venues. We don’t have to educate their kids. We don’t have to provide other services for them. They go home. It’s great,” Austin Mayor Lee Leffingwell said.
Leffingwell said the city didn’t spend a lot to entice the various developers. He said the city waived $4.3 million in fees to seal the deal for the Marriot Marquis Hotel at Second Street and Congress Avenue.
The hotel on San Jacinto Boulevard will be the first of those downtown projects to break ground with construction beginning this month.
