Mayor Pro Tem Kathie Tovo won a round Thursday in her battle to use more of Austin’s tourism dollars to promote Austin’s heritage. City Council cut the tourism promotion budget of the Austin Convention & Visitors Bureau by approximately $1 million out of a proposed $16.5 million overall allocation from the city for its budget. […]
Austin Convention Center
This city department operates the downtown convention center and associated events.
Posted inAustin
Does Austin need a bigger convention center?
City leaders are considering a plan to expand the Austin Convention Center, but some question how much the entire city would benefit from the project. The convention industry is sort of like an invisible arms race among cities. Who can build the biggest, baddest convention center to attract the most coveted events? For some time […]
Posted inBudget
Task force to investigate HOT tax spending
City Council will spend the coming weeks looking into whether Austin’s Hotel Occupancy Tax (or HOT tax) should continue to be used only for tourism, or if there are better uses for the rapidly growing tax revenue. At their meeting on Aug. 18, Council members unanimously passed a resolution to form a task force to […]
Posted inPreservation
Corrected: Homes could thwart convention center project
On Monday, the Historic Landmark Commission heard a proposal that could move three of downtown Austin’s oldest homes to make way for development surrounding its largest hotel. Doug Manchester from the Manchester Texas Financial Group presented his plan to move two, possibly three, homes across the street from their current location at 604, 606 and […]
Posted inCity Council
Houston, Casar balk at larger Convention Center
The City Council Economic Opportunity Committee rejected a chance to weigh in on the expansion of the Convention Center Monday, with Council Members Ora Houston and Greg Casar saying they were not ready to recommend the consultant’s long-range master plan. Convention Center Director Mark Tester pushed the committee to recommend moving forward with the planning. […]
Posted inAustin
Plans for expanded Convention Center laid out for Council committee
As design consultants laid out the plans for an expanded Austin Convention Center to members of the Economic Opportunity Committee on Monday, they emphasized the inability of the current center to accommodate a growing city with a growing roster of visitors. “The No. 1 reason we lose business now is because we’re not available or that […]
Posted inDevelopment, Planning
City staff calls for Convention Center expansion
A memo from City of Austin Real Estate Services Officer Lauraine Rizer to Austin City Council members and Mayor Lee Leffingwell notes that there is “solid evidence for the need to expand the Convention Center.” And to do it, Rizer is calling on the city to acquire a section of downtown known as Block 8. […]