Austin Convention Center expansion efforts took another step forward Thursday, setting up the potential demolition of two downtown blocks and one pop culture landmark. The Austin City Council unanimously signed on Thursday to a $1.2 billion plan to expand the convention center, granting sweeping, unexpected consensus to … Financial projections show the planned expansion of the Austin Convention Center would inject an additional $306 million per year into the local economy, but only if one condition holds: that large events are again held in-person after the COVID-19 pandemic subsides. The Austin Convention Center expansion features four thousand tons of structural steel used in a long-span structure supporting a ballroom and meeting rooms above a column-free exhibit hall. City leaders opened its doors in 1992 with over 200,000 square feet of space and remodeling began a few years later. Austin convention center / Wikimedia. Much of the convention center's popularity comes from its close … Of course, the reality is that Austin tourism is hot, hot, hot and we don't really need to spend hundreds of millions of dollars and a huge chunk of downtown real estate in an effort to "fix" something that is already working. Become a Patron by contributing to Community Impact Newspaper and gain daily insight into what's happening in your own backyard. One agenda item has authorized Hornberger, Fuller & Garza to provide legal services related to the expansion of the Austin Convention Center "in … A gigabit-rated facility, ACC's technology infrastructure can move voice, video & data at a rate of 1 billion bits per second. No sooner had City Council resolved to move forward with expanding the Austin Convention Center than a petition was created to halt that expansion. Austin is being sued over wording for a petition-driven referendum on the city's $1.2 billion expansion of the convention center and its use of hotel tax revenue. Thank you for reading and supporting … AUSTIN, TX — A new coalition in Austin is calling for the expansion of the city's main convention center, contending that demand for meeting and exhibition space in downtown Austin … Last November, I was appointed as a member of the Visitor Impact Task Force created by the City Council to look into the positive and negative impacts of tourism in Austin, as well as put together recommendations regarding the potential expansion of the Convention Center. Skip Navigation. /s. Review the draft Austin Convention Center Long-Range Master Plan “Master Plan” produced by Gensler strategic planning consultancy in March 2015. Expansion of convention center. As Austin City Council received an update on the city's convention center master plan, consultants told the council they still anticipate a convention center expansion … City council votes on expansion of Austin Convention Center. Taxpayers don't have to foot the bill for the expansion because funding for it has already been secured through an increase in hotel taxes. The various … A petition that would require a plan to expand and rebuild the Austin Convention Center to a citywide vote has been certified by the city clerk, KUT reported Saturday. The state-of-the-art Austin Convention Center offers 247,052 square feet of contiguous, column-free exhibit space; 2 ballrooms of 40,510 & 23,000 square feet each; and 54 meeting rooms. Jude Galligan August 24, 2015 Comment. Tom Hazinski of HVS Convention, Sports & Entertainment told Council … AIA Austin has been following the recent actions related to the Austin Convention Center expansion with great interest. Taxpayers don't have to foot the bill for the expansion because funding for it has already been secured through an increase in hotel taxes. According to the city’s recommendation for action on the item, an earnest payment of $6.3 million is available from the Austin Convention Center Department’s 2020-2021 expansion fund — but that’s only a small fraction of the final price, which remains unknown for now. Austin (Travis County)–City Council voted early Aug. 9 to raise the local Hotel Occupancy Tax (HOT) rate by 2% to help fund, among other things, a planned expansion of the Austin Convention Center. Last week Downtown Austin Blog highlighted the Austin Convention Center expansion occurring at the Austin Convention Center. The drive was instigated by Unconventional Austin, a political action committee opposed to the expansion… The Texas Court of Appeals has ruled that the City of Austin must change the ballot language they used for November's 'unconventional' ordinance. In late 2017, Austin City Council authorized UT's Center for Sustainable Development to develop and compare expansion scenarios for the Austin Convention Center and the surrounding downtown area. The facility is also the primary "home base" for the internationally renowned South by … Key to the message of the expansion skeptics is that Austin's hotel tax, about 70% of which goes to operating and promoting the convention center, … "The Real World" house, now home to Vince Young Steakhouse, is located within the footprint of the event center's proposed westward expansion. The matter will now be considered by the the Austin City Council, which approved the planned expansion in May.. The land isn’t expected to go for cheap, even by downtown standards — the bottom half of the southern … This week, we’ve got new image renderings that represent a long-range master plan for the Convention Center. (Christopher Neely/Community Impact Newspaper) Now is the chance to help your local community succeed. Taxpayers don't have to foot the bill for the expansion because funding for it has already been secured through an increase in hotel taxes. The Neal Kocurek Memorial Austin Convention Center is a multi-purpose convention center located in Austin, Texas.The building is the home of the Texas Rollergirls, and was also home to the Austin Toros basketball team, until their move to the Cedar Park Center in nearby Cedar Park in 2010. The Convention Center is Austin's third largest employer. The question of an expansion of the Austin Convention Center, pictured here, has been debated for years. That company gives the city technical advice on the convention center's operations and expansion initiatives. 45% of Austin Voters Want a Say on Convention Center Expansion, 55% Don’t Ed Schipul / Flickr, CC BY 2.0 Austin voters yesterday defeated a ballot proposition that would have given them a say over whether or not the City should expand its Convention Center, a project estimated to cost about $1.2 billion. Visuals: Austin Convention Center Expansion. Convention Centers drive tourism and spending hundreds of millions on this expansion could finally put us on the map. Taxpayers don't have to foot the bill for the expansion because funding for it has already been secured through an increase in hotel taxes. Remund said access to the convention center, and a possible expansion, was a key selling point for White Lodging as it considered hotel locations. Although the Covid-19 pandemic will continue to have serious economic impacts on the Austin Convention Center for several years, people will still want to gather for face-to-face meetings, according to an expert hired to advise City Council on the planned expansion of the convention center. Latest News The design creates an appropriate scale along pedestrian-oriented street, with larger volumes of the exhibition halls and ballrooms tucked behind. Mayor Steve Adler is particularly excited that a Convention Center expansion is the only way to form a Tourism Public Improvement District to get funding for Austin's homeless issues. Austin: Analysis Continues on Convention Center Expansion Plan Featured Photo (above): HVS, a consulting company, is leading a financial and market analysis of Austin’s proposed expansion of the Austin Convention Center. 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