Coming to Congress Ave: The Monster Marriott

Years after Las Manitas was prematurely demolished for the long-planned, controversia giant Marriott, the food trailers have finally been relocated and the lot fenced. It seems that construction is now about to begin. And with construction so close, new details and pictures have emerged.

The original plan for the project included 1,000 rooms across 3 separate incredibly ugly Marriott-branded hotels in one convoluted multi-facted building. The second version of the project included two hotels in one building. Version 3.0 includes just one swanky 1,012 room J.W. Marriott hotel. The project is projected to cost more tan $275 million.

Pictures of the new Congress Avenue JW Marriott

Here are some of the details on the new J.W. Marriott:

– Located at Congress between 2nd and 3rd across the street from the Austonian
– 33 Stories tall
– 1,012 rooms
– 115,000 feet of meeting space
– 3-floor 458 spot underground parking garage
– 4,500 square foot fitness center
– Will employ 700 people
– Construction to begin August 1
– A new design that more actively engages Congress Avenue with streetfront retail restaurant space

The project is one of two 1,000+ plus hotel rooms proposed for downtown Austin. The addition of 1,000 new hotel rooms under a single roof will allow the city to book larger conferences and events — bringing valuable tourism dollars and jobs to Austin. There is a shortage of rooms downtown and a crazy large 1,000 room hotel can make a big difference.

The project is projected to open in 2015.