W Austin Media Statement on Buiding Closure

W Austin Media Statement by Beau Armstrong, CEO Stratus Properties:

Today as you know, another glass balcony panel at the W Austin building shattered in place and fell, breaking two panels directly below, and sending glass into the pool area, which was closed. The entire team here at the W couldn’t be more devastated that this has occurred, but unfortunately after consulting with numerous experts we still do not know why this has happened.

So here’s what we’re doing. We are replacing every piece of balcony glass on the building. To do this safely we are working with the City to:

1.     Shut down several lanes of traffic around 3 sides of the building. This will mean some delays on Lavaca, Third and Guadalupe until the panels on those sides of the building can be removed. We apologize for any inconvenience but our first priority is public safety.

2.     Close the sidewalks entirely around the building until protective pedestrian walkways are installed.
We are also working to relocate current and future hotel guests, and closing the hotel until further notice. We’d like to thank our local hotel partners in advance for welcoming our guests and helping us during this difficult time.

We have experts and the City of Austin on site to ensure this work is done safely and as expeditiously as possible. Safety is our top priority.

Again, the entire team is devastated by these incidents, and we apologize to our hotel guests, our residents, our neighbors, and to the City. We will make this right.

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