327-room Boutique Hotel to Break Ground This Summer in Downtown Austin

By Camelia Bulea, Associate Editor

JMI Realty is finally able to look forward its 327-room hotel project in downtown Austin. After five years of being stalled due to the economic recession, the hospitality project is now on track—expected to break ground by June 2013.

The 16-story hotel will be operated by Kimpton Hotels—a San Francisco company that specializes in chic boutique hotels, notes the Austin Business Journal. The building will also include a three-level underground parking garage, three-meal restaurant, 6,800-square-foot pool deck and bar, about 12,000 square feet of meeting space, and a 1,300-square-foot exercise facility.

Dubbed Hotel Van Zandt, the initial 2008 project included a 29-story hotel and residential tower, which would have required a $100 million investment but was scaled back to a 346,000-square-foot hotel designed by Dallas-based WDG-Habib Architecture Inc.

According to JMI Realty, the Van Zandt will be the only boutique hotel in downtown Austin and is designed to capture the unique attitude and culture of the community. Given its location two blocks southeast of the Austin Convention Center, one block east of Town Lake and 1.8 miles from the Texas Capitol Building, the hotel will be appealing for both business and leaisure travelers.

Austin is a booming hotel market with many hospitality projects under construction this year. Back in January, Hotel ZaZa developers received initial approval from the Austin City Council to proceed with their 24-story hotel project.

Additionally, the $350 million Fairmont Austin is scheduled to break ground in October 2013. When complete in 2016, the 50-story, 1,000-room hotel will be Austin’s second tallest building.

Photo credits: JMI Realty

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