Austin Convention Center | Redevelopment Update

Redevelopment

On June 10, 2021 the Austin City Council approved the Construction Manager at Risk (CMR) method of contracting as the delivery method of best value to the City for the Convention Center expansion project which would demolish and rebuild portions of the existing Austin Convention Center and construct new elements for a facility expansion. This approval will allow staff to proceed with the following steps:

Develop and issue a Request for Qualification (RFQ) for the selection of an architect firm to provide design services. Staff will return to Council with a recommendation to award and execute a contract with the most qualified firm upon completion of the RFQ evaluation process.
While staff is executing a contract with the design firm, staff will develop and issue a Request for Proposal (RFP) for the selection of a contractor (CMR) to perform general contractor services. Staff will return to Council with a recommendation to award and execute a contract with the most qualified contractor upon completion of the RFP evaluation process.

A link to the agenda item and associated backup can be found here. As part of the approval of this item, the Council passed a resolution that provided further direction related to the CMR process. That agenda item may be found here. On June 8th, the interim director of the Convention Center released a memo that describes the CMR process in more detail.

Redevelopment Background Information

Expansion of the Austin Convention Center, in conjunction with ongoing initiatives including Waterloo Greenway, the Palm District, and Project Connect, will transform the southeast corner of downtown into a community-centric destination
The expansion will greatly expand the available rental space of the existing convention center, allowing the center to remain competitive in the convention center marketplace
Expansion is the result of five years of study
The Austin Convention Center Department is an enterprise department of the City of Austin; this means it is not funded by property taxes, sales taxes, or through transfers from the electric and water utilities. As an enterprise department, funding for the Austin Convention Center and the Palmer Events Center comes from contractor revenue, facility revenue (includes facility rental and parking), Hotel Occupancy Tax (HOT), and a 1998 voter-approved 5% Rental Car Tax. From the 11% HOT collected by the City, 6.9% is earmarked for the Convention Center Fund and the Venue Project Fund to pay for Convention Center debt service and operating requirements related to the Austin Convention Center and the original expansion project, including Waller Creek.
On Aug. 8, 2019, the Austin City Council approved an increase in the municipal HOT rate of a further 2% for a Convention Center expansion, bringing the total City HOT rate to 11%.