Austin | Embassy Suites & Tempo by Hilton | 368 Feet | 30 Floors | Proposed
 

We now have three Warehouse District (or District Adjacent) sites up for Demo on next week's HLC agenda.

1. 301 W 6th (Iron Bear)

2. 200 Block of Colorado for the Hanover Tower.

3. And now 209 and 213 W 5th - site of Smash

https://i.imgur.com/GcTE9Hb.jpg

Towers has the goods on the project that wants to replace Smash. It's a combined Embassy Suites/Motto (both Hilton brands), 28 stories, and a couple of significant retail/restaurant tenants on floors one and two. Enjoy the big pics!


https://austin.towers.net/wp-content...l_1-scaled.jpg

https://austin.towers.net/wp-content...ca_hotel_2.jpg

https://austin.towers.net/fifth-and-...istoric-review

That fountain is an eyesore that will be dry most of the year. Hopefully it is merely conceptual.

Other than the silly fountain, the first few floors of this tower are pretty great with what looks like two floors of retail space and a pretty distinct overhang. Beyond that, it's nothing special.

Silvery

I wonder if this signals they're going to sell the Embassy Suites on South Congress.
Would probably go for a pretty penny: has no historical significance, is across the street from the proposed underground station for the Orange line at Auditorium Shores and is already pretty tall.

I suspect once the Statesman site goes and the rail station nears opening everything on that side of the river that is more than a decade old is up for demolition.

Once Rainey is built out developers are going to start looking for another near downtown residential district and south shore is prime for just that. Its historically been a pretty terrible part of town with few redeeming qualities outside of Threadgills and I sort of like the beach volleyball spot.

Design Intake filed today. It says 29-stories.

https://abc.austintexas.gov/public-s...pertyrsn=91736

Why does the fountain at Samsung get to run full blast all through summer, but others can’t? Am I missing something?

Fountains can be a really useful tool to help keep urban centers cooler around them, it's why you see a lot of fountains in Rome, other Italian or Mediterranean cities. Honestly they should be considered especially as our urban centers heat up. Yes there is the issue of evaporation, but if they are designed in a way that can use condensation maybe from the cooling systems from surrounding buildings, or collect large amounts of rainwater which can be stored below ground during wet periods, then they can be beneficial. They should also be placed in protected locations which would help reduce the amount of evaporation. Not saying there have to be a lot of them but having a large fountain in the right place in coordination with shaded corridors, heat reflecting asphalt and other measures are more of a benefit than hindrance.

I hope that design is way preliminary. Pretty soon the "people in glass houses" phrase will apply to everyone. I'm actually less bothered by that, but man, these boxes are turning into a snoozefest. This thing reminds me of the tallest building in Midland:

https://www.google.com/search?q=bank...h=709&biw=1600

28-Story Downtown Austin Hotel Tower Plan Moves Forward at Fifth and Lavaca

https://austin.towers.net/28-story-d...th-and-lavaca/

The dual-branded Embassy Suites and Motto by Hilton hotel tower planned by local hospitality firm Merritt Development Group for a 0.27-acre assembly at the southeast corner of West Fifth and Lavaca Streets in downtown Austin is showing some notable signs of progress this week, with the first development-related filing for the 28-story building now in review with the city.

...

While a specific date for construction isn’t yet specified for the project, its continuing progression through the city’s development process and clearance of pre-demolition historical review implies that major changes to the corner will arrive sooner or later — so if you’d like to appreciate the life of these century-old structures, there’s still plenty of time left for a few games of ping pong.

Interesting. Wonder which steakhouse we're talking about.

Also interesting that it's following the Thompson/tommie setup -- major brand combined with millenial/gen z friendly mini-brand under one roof. In this case, guests will either choose suites or reduced-square-footage hostel-style rooms.

So are we getting a Palm or a Capital Grill to add to our other overpriced national chain "expense account" steakplaces?

Places that I will never go to. Stick to local eateries to show what being in Austin is all about.

I think we already have Capital Grill in the old Spaghetti Warehouse space.

There are a lot of steakhouses Downtown.

These national chain steakplaces 100% survive on expense accounts. Its almost always out of towners taking other out of towners to somewhere "fancy".

I used to be in sales and business development and its amazing when a potential client comes to town how often they want to go to Ruth's Chris.

Sucks because obviously there are better local spots for often less money and yet.

Gotta have the right clients. I always appreciate it when people specifically ask for something local. I've had someone say to me, "I want outstanding BBQ. I hear Franklin's is great, but I don't want to go there because I've heard of it. Where do the locals go?"

I call that The Expense Account Archipelago -- a collection of restaurant/attraction brands that show up in major business travel destinations, either in the CBD or in the commercial astroid belts surrounding major office parks. Ruth's Chris is a prime offender, but so is Capital Grill, etc.

While I think the demand for such places remains pretty strong (or is recovering bigly after the pandemic), Ruth's and Capital are clearly ancient brands for older generations. The Millenials and Z's need different expense account attractions. Hence: Punch Bowl Social, etc.