Austin convention center expansion moves forward
After a long day considering various different topics, City Council voted 10-0-1, with Council Member Leslie Pool abstaining, to authorize staff to move forward with negotiations to purchase two expensive blocks to the west of the Austin Convention Center for the purpose of starting expansion. Pool said she was abstaining because she was concerned about financing for the expansion.
There were no details about the eventual cost since that will be part of the negotiations, but Council approved an exclusive negotiating agreement for blocks 16 and 32. The city will pay $6.3 million in earnest money to begin the process of acquiring the properties between East Second Street on the south and East Fourth Street on the north, between Trinity and San Jacinto Boulevard.
According to documentation provided by staff, “This action is the first of a two-step approval process. The exclusive negotiating agreement (ENA) will allow the city, the landowners and developers to establish more detailed specifications, including guaranteed maximum pricing for the acquisition and development of westward expansion of the convention center space. The transaction will include an estimated 750,000 square feet of convention space and related amenities.”
The second step of the process outlined by staff “is anticipated for the summer of 2021, with a real estate purchase and sale agreement with accompanying documents. Once the expansion space is completed to the west, the convention center plans to work towards potential redevelopment of the current convention center space.”
Read more: https://www.austinmonitor.com/stories/2020/09/convention-center-expansion-moves-forward/