[KevinFromTexas]

http://www.mystatesman.com/news/busi...3948020.735834

Report calls for up to $600 million Austin Convention Center expansion
Posted: 5:51 p.m. Monday, Aug. 24, 2015

By Gary Dinges and Shonda Novak - American-Statesman Staff

A city-commissioned master plan for the Austin Convention Center recommends a multiblock expansion that would cost hundreds of millions of dollars and dramatically increase the facility’s footprint.

The Austin Convention Center has 881,400 gross square feet, according to city figures, with 369,132 square feet of exhibit and meeting space. The proposed expansion calls for adding 200,000 square feet of exhibit space, 65,000 square feet of meeting space and 56,700 square feet of ballroom space.

Preliminary plans call for construction to start in November 2018, with completion set for November 2021.

The expansion is proposed for land west of the existing convention center, across Trinity Street. Skywalks would be constructed so that the city wouldn’t have to close Trinity. Portions of two other streets would close, though – East Second and East Third streets between San Jacinto Boulevard and Trinity Street, according to the report.