AUSTIN | Fairmont Hotel | 595 FEET SPIRE/456 FT ROOF | 37 FLRS | Complete

[Syndic]

This report says that construction is supposed to start on the Fairmont next week. This one's going to be fun to watch.

[The ATX]

Speaking of expanding the convention center:

http://www.bizjournals.com/austin/bl...ter-again.html

[The ATX]

Originally Posted by Syndic

This report says that construction is supposed to start on the Fairmont next week. This one's going to be fun to watch.

I'm with you on this project. I think it is an incredible project. Of course I like me some tall buildings. But this is a five star hotel with over 1,000 rooms, and the design is still pretty awesome!

[lzppjb]

Originally Posted by Hill Country

Speaking of expanding the convention center:

http://www.bizjournals.com/austin/bl...ter-again.html

Can they not go UP? If not on top of what they currently have, then on the next block or 2 they buy?

[paul78701]

Originally Posted by lzppjb

Can they not go UP? If not on top of what they currently have, then on the next block or 2 they buy?

As it is now...taking nearly six contiguous city blocks, without any cross streets in between, is very pedestrain unfriendly. It would only be worse if they expand and close off more streets.

UP would definitely be better. Or at least put in some ground floor retail as a part of the expansion and connect the expansion with elevated walkways over the street.

[AusTxDevelopment]

Originally Posted by lzppjb

Can they not go UP? If not on top of what they currently have, then on the next block or 2 they buy?

Up is tough for a convention center. Have you been in those halls and ballrooms? They have 24' to 36' - or higher - clear heights (aka unobstructed floor to ceiling height). They also have to have as much open, column-free space as possible because columns block views and get in the way. Since the floor loads have to support the weight of cars, boats and all kinds of other heavy objects in the exhibit halls, it's difficult to have floors above a hall without significant support columns. An added factor is the loading docks - you can drive multiple semi-trucks into the backstage area of the convention center to unload heavy/large objects that end up in the exhibit halls. Difficult to do that on a 2nd or 3rd floor. That's why you rarely see a convention center with more than 2 floors, and almost all convention centers are sprawling messes.

[GoldenBoot]

The reason for expanding is to create more contiguous open space and meeting rooms. Thus, outward is the best option. Furthermore, I do not believe they can go up over the current contiguous space. Even so, that would not be an improvement on the current, limited contiguous space.

According to the letter to council, the total, long-range recommendation is to acquire up to 305,000 SF of surface space (~3-4 city blocks).

EDIT: Sorry AusTexDevelopment...you posted your comments just before I hit "enter."

[AusTxDevelopment]

Originally Posted by GoldenBoot

The reason for expanding is to create more contiguous open space and meeting rooms. Thus, outward is the best option. Furthermore, I do not believe they can go up over the current contiguous space. Even so, that would not be an improvement on the current, limited contiguous space.

According to the letter to council, the total, long-range recommendation is to acquire up to 305,000 SF of surface space (~3-4 city blocks).

EDIT: Sorry AusTexDevelopment...you posted your comments just before I hit "enter."

We're on the same page. And that's a good point about contiguous space. The bigger the hall the better, as far as the City is concerned. Its why they eliminate cross streets.

[KevinFromTexas]

San Antonio is expanding their's. There are a few photos of it at the link below. They're expanding it to 1.65 million square feet. It'll be huge. It's making those big hotels look like toys by comparison.

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...56#post6769956

[lzppjb]

Wow, that's huge!

Austin currently has 881,400 sf. If they add the proposed 76,170, then we'll have 957,570 sf. The Hilton has 80,000 sf of meeting space next door. JW Marriott has 112,000 and the Fairmont will have 100,000. All totaled, we'd have just under 1,250,000 sf of convention/meeting space in that area.

[Jdawgboy]

Yea I saw that article and was kinda surprised. But having thought about it a bit more, I figured that once all the new hotels open, the current 40% capacity will probably double immediately so I can understand why they are already talking about expansion.

[ATXboom]

Originally Posted by lzppjb

Wow, that's huge!

Austin currently has 881,400 sf. If they add the proposed 76,170, then we'll have 957,570 sf. The Hilton has 80,000 sf of meeting space next door. JW Marriott has 112,000 and the Fairmont will have 100,000. All totaled, we'd have just under 1,250,000 sf of convention/meeting space in that area.

It mentions purchasing 3 city blocks... from what I can tell the current convention center is 3 blocks n/s x 2 blocks e/w. Adding 3 city blocks to the west should add a LOT more than 76000 sq feet. It should bring 881K up closer to 1.2M.

This will push a lot of the restaurants and convention people further into downtown (2nd st, congress etc...) by eliminating all the chain crap in that area.

[lzppjb]

I'm just going by the article. It seemed like a low number.

[AusTxDevelopment]

Originally Posted by ATXboom

It mentions purchasing 3 city blocks... from what I can tell the current convention center is 3 blocks n/s x 2 blocks e/w. Adding 3 city blocks to the west should add a LOT more than 76000 sq feet. It should bring 881K up closer to 1.2M.

This will push a lot of the restaurants and convention people further into downtown (2nd st, congress etc...) by eliminating all the chain crap in that area.

That 76,176 sf number is the size of a city block at 276'x276' according to Lauraine Rizer, who wrote the recommendation memo to the City.

As the historic platted blocks in downtown Austin are 276'x276' or 71,176 square feet, the recommendation is that the Austin Convention Center will need to acquire the equivalent of three to four City blocks.

So if they want to add between 228,528 SF (3 blocks equiv.) and 304,704 SF (4 blocks equiv.) of space, they may be able to do it on less land. She was just using the block size as a measuring stick (I hope - I am giving her the benefit of the doubt). Copy of the entire memo is here, courtesy of the Austin Monitor:

http://www.austinmonitor.com/wp-cont...quisitions.pdf

[KevinFromTexas]

So in case there was still any doubt, the spire really will be disportionately tall. I got an email back from Gensler saying the main roof height is 420 feet. The spire will stand on the main roof so that means it'll be 175 feet tall. That makes it one of the two tallest spires in Texas. The other being the 176 foot lattice structure atop the Renaissance Tower in Dallas which was actually added later on during a renovation of the building. It took the building's height from 710 feet to 886 feet.

At 175 feet tall that makes it taller than the Moonlight Towers.

Also, the mechanical penthouse roof height is 451 feet, but there is also a 5 foot screenwall that goes above it. That's what they're calling the "crown". My guess is they'll have lights on the main roof and or the mechanical roof backlighting that glass wall.

[lzppjb]

[The ATX]

So this will still be 22' taller (and much wider) than Spring and is in a very prominent location. I'm OK with that.

[ahealy]

Originally Posted by lzppjb

[Jdawgboy]

Originally Posted by Hill Country

So this will still be 22' taller (and much wider) than Spring and is in a very prominent location. I'm OK with that.

Yea but Spring will still look taller because it is a point tower. Wider buildings tend to look squatty.

[lzppjb]

I'd rather be a tight end (football) than a shooting guard (basketball)...

6'6 260 lbs vs. 6'6 195 lbs