Image: AJ Capital Partners / HPA / TBG
Austin’s own location of the Graduate Hotel is not anticipated to be a particularly subtle building. This collegiate-minded boutique lodging brand is set to develop a new outpost only a few blocks removed from the University of Texas campus in the far northwest corner of downtown at 1800 Guadalupe Street — and like many of the other locations designed by the Chicago-based architects Hartshorne Plunkard, the building has a serious predilection for masonry. Like, so much brick it got posted to the incredibly snobby “architectural revival” subreddit earlier this year.
Image: AJ Capital Partners / HPA / TBG
And hey, it’s a good thing we like to peep those bricks, since the project is set to appear before the city’s Design Commission on Monday next week for the consideration of its compliance with the requirements of the Downtown Density Bonus Program, which is necessary for the building to rise to its height of 200 feet. That means we’ve got a new set of detailed renderings and other information about the project, one of more than 30 Graduate Hotels now rising or already risen by Nashville-based hospitality firm Adventurous Journeys Capital Partners.
Image: AJ Capital Partners / HPA / TBG
Image: AJ Capital Partners / HPA / TBG
Alongside its 194 hotel rooms, the building will contain a residential component with 228 rental units operated under the developer’s new Memoir Residential platform, which offers both traditional leases and shorter-term rentals of fully-furnished residences. More than 8,000 square feet of retail space will be included in the hotel building, most on the ground floor but with additional use on the rooftop amenity deck at level 19. The entrance to the hotel component of the building will face West 18th Street, with access to the residential lobby and its amenities located at the corner of West 18th and Guadalupe Streets.
Image: AJ Capital Partners / HPA / TBG
Image: AJ Capital Partners / HPA / TBG
One of the most interesting features of the structure is its large north-facing open courtyard, which starts at the sixth floor and is wrapped by the rest of the building, with two big murals planned facing the UT Campus. At the center of the courtyard is the hotel’s banquet hall, connected to the rest of the structure but designed to look like it’s standing alone. You can see how this space is laid out in the rendering below:
Image: AJ Capital Partners / HPA / TBG
We might just be suckers for the somewhat warehouse-inspired masonry architecture seen here, but overall these renderings portray a project that appears refreshingly timeless in its design inspirations, and would be a real asset for this part of downtown as the area develops into a sort of district of its own. Bring on the bricks, even if it’s a little harder to build than a glass curtain wall — once the Hotel ZaZa was finished downtown, members of the development team told us that they never wanted to work on a masonry-heavy project again. Maybe the Graduate folks will have an easier time?
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