After a brief pause in local construction due to pandemic-related concerns, work is spinning back up at sites around Austin — and one of them is really, really visible, smack in the middle of downtown at the corner of Eighth Street and Congress Avenue.
Internal demolition and construction work at the future site of the 31-story, 246-room Hyatt Centric Congress Avenue started all the way back in February at the former art gallery located on the corner at 721 Congress Avenue, but now walls are actually coming down in preparation for the hotel tower project to move forward in earnest. The building is scheduled for completion in fall 2021, according to its developers — and even though it’s a valid question, we’re not really equipped to speculate on just how much current events might change that timeline, if at all.
Carson Nelsen, project designer for the tower’s architects Nelsen Partners, confirmed that demolition of the site’s existing structure and the beginnings of construction are taking place at the corner simultaneously, with the first of many concrete pours for the building’s foundation starting on Monday earlier this week. “We expect construction to continue and completion of the project in fall 2021,” he says.
Speaking of which, if you’re still locked down in your apartment for the foreseeable future, you’ll appreciate that the project’s general contractors at tech-minded California construction firm Katerra are streaming the whole shebang live on webcam:
Real Towersheads remember this project, now a concern of Colorado development outfit McWhinney, was originally announced back in 2016 as the Avenue, which would have been the city’s first apartment tower with no on-site parking. (If you’re a really real Towershead, you’ll recall an even earlier tower plan from back in 2004.)
The Hyatt project isn’t even the first hotel to occupy the address, for that matter — from the 1860s to the mid-1920s, even before the spotlight-hogging Driskill Hotel came on the scene in 1883, the Avenue Hotel stood at this corner, and it’s from these long-gone lodgings that the defunct Avenue apartment tower project found its name.
Despite the admiration of urbanists and other downtown lifestyle enthusiasts, the carless Avenue apartment plan might have been a little ahead of its time in the eyes of potential investors, and it was rumored that its architects and former developers at Nelsen Partners weren’t able to find enough deep-pocketed folks willing to take the risk, no matter how innovative or interesting it might have been. (Extremely!)
The Hyatt Centric Congress Avenue Austin, scheduled for a fall 2021 opening, will offer guests 246 rooms and an estimated 2,000 square feet of meeting and event space. It will include a vibrant ground-floor restaurant and bar, a second-floor bar, and an eclectic eighth-floor outdoor lounge and bar in addition to a 24-hour fitness center.
— McWhinney*
The good news is that despite the hotel pivot, the tower’s strikingly narrow design — actually the narrowest in town by our measure — is pretty much unchanged from its previous configuration, and it’s looking like the development will nicely activate its corner. Of course, we’ve always got to wonder how current events will impact the future of these projects, but it’s still good to see something happening at the site after all these years — considering the historic State and Paramount theatres are right next door, this demolition is likely a delicate business. Watch closely!
* a good-natured note for the project’s new developers at McWhinney — couldn’t help but notice your portfolio entry for this hotel currently misspells the name of its architecture firm as Nelson Partners rather then Nelsen Partners, and speaking as a guy who constantly gets called “James Ramblin” like I’m the lead singer of some third-rate Allman Brothers cover band, I can’t let this injustice stand without some sort of comment. Don’t worry, this kind of thing also happens to Brett Rhode all the time.
Latest Downtown Austin Condos For Sale
-
$699,999
48 East Ave #1404
Austin, TX -
$804,450
300 Bowie ST #1301
Austin, TX -
$1,550,000
300 Bowie ST #3602
Austin, TX -
$529,900
360 Nueces ST #1112
Austin, TX -
$254,500
1800 Lavaca ST #A-702
Austin, TX -
$575,000
360 Nueces ST #1807
Austin, TX -
$585,000
40 N Interstate 35 Highway #10D2
Austin, TX -
$706,500
44 East Ave #1804
Austin, TX -
$750,000
603 Davis ST #1610
Austin, TX -
$2,400,000
70 Rainey ST #2606
Austin, TX -
$899,000
48 East Ave #1509
Austin, TX -
$645,000
501 West Ave #1206
Austin, TX -
$2,499,000
901 W 9th ST #1002
Austin, TX -
$618,000
360 Nueces ST #3301
Austin, TX -
$749,900
603 Davis ST #1704
Austin, TX
-
Lot Size75 sqft
Home Size893 sqft
Beds1 Bed
Baths1 Bath
-
Lot Size105 sqft
Home Size1,038 sqft
Beds2 Beds
Baths2 Baths
-
Lot Size170 sqft
Home Size1,704 sqft
Beds3 Beds
Baths3 Baths
-
Lot Size131 sqft
Home Size812 sqft
Beds1 Bed
Baths1 Bath
-
Lot Size262 sqft
Home Size608 sqft
Beds1 Bed
Baths1 Bath
-
Lot Size131 sqft
Home Size852 sqft
Beds1 Bed
Baths1 Bath
-
Lot Size1,059 sqft
Home Size1,360 sqft
Beds2 Beds
Baths2 Baths
-
Lot SizeN/A
Home Size614 sqft
Beds1 Bed
Baths1 Bath
-
Lot Size214 sqft
Home Size1,122 sqft
Beds2 Beds
Baths2 Baths
-
Lot SizeN/A
Home Size2,179 sqft
Beds3 Beds
Baths3 Baths
-
Lot Size17,904 sqft
Home Size982 sqft
Beds2 Beds
Baths2 Baths
-
Lot SizeN/A
Home Size652 sqft
Beds1 Bed
Baths1 Bath
-
Lot Size828 sqft
Home Size2,971 sqft
Beds3 Beds
Baths3.5 Baths
-
Lot Size88 sqft
Home Size801 sqft
Beds1 Bed
Baths1 Bath
-
Lot Size236 sqft
Home Size1,252 sqft
Beds2 Beds
Baths2 Baths
Leave a Reply