Project Overview
The City of Austin has grown rapidly into a top-ten preferred convention destination since opening the Austin Convention Center (ACC) in 1992 and expanding it in 2002. However, the existing Convention Center has insufficient space to accommodate the growth in event demand at the Center, while the facility itself creates a barrier between east and west, with no ground level interaction for the local community and visitors. Therefore, the ACC has begun the process of an expansion to its existing facility, to provide a larger, more efficient facility on a smaller footprint that will be a more active and community-friendly event space in the heart of Downtown Austin.
The new Convention Center will nearly double the available rentable space at the Center and position us to compete for the next tier of convention business and build the convention center of tomorrow!
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 completed expansion project is estimated to generate an additional $285 million in yearly economic impact within the local community, provide nearly $13 million in additional annual tax revenue to the City, and support over 1,600 additional jobs.
- 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 nearly a decade of study, with all overwhelmingly supportive of an expansion of the Center.
- 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%.
- The new Convention Center will be built using Hotel Occupancy Tax and the Convention Center’s revenues, with no reliance on property tax.
Council Actions on Expansion
- On August 2019, the Austin City Council approved an increase in the municipal Hotel Occupancy Tax (HOT) rate from 7% to 9% in support of the expansion.
- On June 10, the Austin City Council gave approval for the City to utilize the Construction Manager at Risk (CMR) methodology for the procurement of the Convention Center redevelopment and expansion project.
- May 2019: Council passes the Palm District Resolution No. 20190523-029 which serves as a guiding planning document for the southeast quadrant of downtown Austin
Informational Links
Council Approval of CMAR Methodology (2021)
Council Resolution 20210610-096 (2021)
Austin Convention Center Redevelopment and Expansion Report (2021)
Austin Convention Center Redevelopment and Expansion Proof of Concept (2021)
Expansion Timeline
Frequently Asked Questions
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Simply put, the current Convention Center suffers from a lack of meeting space and adequate exhibit hall and ballroom space compared to its peers. Austin is the No. 10 largest city in the U.S. but has the No. 59 largest convention center. We currently turn away nearly 50% of the business leads we receive due to size constraints and availability. Expansion of the existing Center is critical to capturing existing and future demand, and the associated economic benefits of hosting events at the Austin Convention Center. The completed expansion project is estimated to generate an additional $285 million in yearly economic impact within the local community, provide nearly $13 million in additional annual tax revenue to the City, and support over 1,600 additional jobs - all contained within our existing footprint.
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The idea of a Convention Center expansion has been studied and contemplated for nearly a decade, beginning in 2015 with the release of the Convention Center Master Plan. The City and community spent years in thoughtful deliberation, evaluating the project through numerous studies, a Council-appointed task force charged with evaluating an expansion, and an updated Master Plan with accompanying economic impact report. This careful and thorough review culminated in City Council approval to raise the municipal Hotel Occupancy Tax (HOT) rate in support of an expansion in 2019 and approval to issue two solicitations to design and construct the new Convention Center in 2021.
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We want to build the Convention Center of the future! The goal of the project is to deliver a larger, more efficient facility within a smaller footprint that will provide an active, community-friendly Center that enhances the culturally rich fabric of the Palm District, and remove the barrier that is the current Convention Center from the southeast corner of downtown Austin. Expansion of the Convention Center, in conjunction with ongoing initiatives like Waterloo Greenway, the Palm District, and Project Connect, will transform the southeast corner of downtown into a community-centric destination. In total, we will nearly double the available rentable space at the facility while building a Center that is more responsive to market trends and customer needs.
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As an enterprise department within the City, the Convention Center is not funded by property taxes, sales taxes, or transfers from the electric and water utilities. Instead, the project is funded through the Convention Center’s allocation of the Hotel Occupancy Tax (HOT), the additional 2% expansion HOT approved by Council in 2019, and Convention Center revenues.
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Yes, there will be many opportunities for the public to give their input. The Convention Center will be conducting extensive community engagement through the design process and will regularly update City Council and the public on our efforts.
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The Austin Convention Center and our partners will assist and offer clients and event planners the option to move activities to other downtown Austin sites (Palmer Events Center, available hotel ballrooms, and other event spaces) to conduct their business, and/or reschedule and move to another date.
Statements of Support
“This is an important day for the City of Austin. Releasing the RFQ for the design is the first of many steps, but is a vital one for our city’s future. An expanded convention center has been a topic of conversation for years and, as we continue to become a focal point in the world, we have to accommodate a large number of events. With an inadequate convention center, we lose out to competitors and, consequently miss out on millions of dollars for our Austin community. With a bigger convention center, the economic impact to our city is estimated to jump to over $750 million annually, from the current $468 million. A larger facility also means more travelers to Austin and jobs in the Austin hospitality industry.”
- Kirk Watson, Mayor - City of Austin
“Austin is blessed to have one of the liveliest urban cores in any American city that isn’t on a coast, but our convention center is outdated, undersized, and a barrier in the southeastern corner of Downtown. The vision to transform this space into a community-centric destination for visitors and residents alike while also re-stitching the grid is an exciting prospect for many reasons, not least of which is the fact that it could lead to new opportunities for a lot more affordable housing in the heart of District 9.”
- Zohaib Qadri, Austin City Council Member - District 9
“We’re so pleased to support the Austin Convention Center and the City of Austin as they move forward with the redesign project. While we’re excited about the prospect of reimagining SXSW for a few years, we look forward to returning to the new convention center in 2029 for an improved SXSW experience.”
- Michele Flores, SXSW Chief Logistics Officer