The center closed in April and construction crews began demolishing the 365,000-square-foot building in May. They are scheduled to finish tearing down the existing building in late October and construct a 620,000-square-foot convention center in its place, which is expected to open in early 2029.
The new convention center is designed to bring larger events to Austin while increasing walkability downtown and making the center more welcoming for residents, ACC Acting Deputy Director Katy Zamesnik told reporters.
“This is the beginning of delivering on a promise that we've made to the community. ... We want this to be a building that locals love just as much as our visitors do,” Zamesnik said after journalists and local leaders toured the construction site Sept. 12.
Keep reading for more information about the project.
What you need to know
The four-year, $1.6 billion redevelopment project will transform six square blocks of downtown Austin and is expected to significantly increase the city’s exhibition space, according to previous Community Impact reporting.
The project is funded by Austin’s hotel occupancy tax—an 11% tax charged to local hotel visitors—and convention center revenue that was set aside for the project.
After crews finish tearing down the existing center in late October, they will begin excavating the site, digging 55 feet into the ground before placing foundations for the new building early next year.
Work on the construction site, which takes up six city blocks, can be disruptive to nearby businesses. Sprinklers are placed throughout the site to prevent the spread of dust.
“We've been working on noise mitigation, dust mitigation, all of those kinds of things,” Zamesnik said. “We're committed to working with [local businesses] as we go throughout this process to make sure that they're successful while we're closed, and that they're even more successful when we reopen.”
Crews had torn down about two-thirds of the building as of Sept. 12, according to Chris Cordeiro, general superintendent with JE Dunn Construction. Up to 95% of the materials from the old convention center will be recycled for future projects or used to construct the new building.
“Some components are being brought over to the Marshalling Yard, stacked and palleted so they can [be] reused on the new building,” said Cordeiro, who oversees field operations for the redevelopment project. “Everything else is being sorted and processed at a recycling plant.”
The new facility is expected to be the world’s first net-zero carbon convention center, and project leaders said they are working to minimize carbon emissions during construction by “producing some low-carbon concrete mixes” and using other “low-impact construction materials.”
“Once we've figured this out, this will all be available for future projects—not only for the city of Austin, but for the entire development community,” Riley Triggs, a capital delivery consultant for the city of Austin and the redevelopment project manager, said Sept. 12. “We're reusing materials from the old convention center into the new convention center, and that alone is worth enough carbon that it equals 350 pickup truck trips between here and Seattle, round trip.”
The background
In February, local leaders said the redevelopment would help attract more conventions and events to Austin, as the old convention center was much smaller than its counterparts in Houston, Dallas and San Antonio.
“We will no longer be a barrier. We will be a gateway that transforms the southeast corner [of downtown] into what we hope will be a bustling community hub,” Zamesnik said in February. “We really want this to be a convention center where our business opportunity meets our cultural enrichment.”
When the new convention center opens ahead of the South by Southwest Conference & Festivals in 2029, it will be more “pedestrian-friendly” with additional green spaces, Zamesnik said Sept. 12.
Second and Third streets will be open to vehicle and pedestrian traffic, and the project plans include new retail and dining options, public art installations and park or plaza spaces.
“It's not going to look like a convention center—it's going to look like something that you want to come and visit, that you want to walk your children through,” Zamesnik said. “You're going to look at Waller Creek as you're walking along and just kind of look down and feel that you're not really in an urban downtown.”
While the convention center is closed, Zamesnik said events will be held in the Palmer Events Center at Auditorium Shores and smaller local venues. SXSW will also remain in Austin, with a spokesperson telling Community Impact in February event organizers are excited about “reimagining” the event for a few years before returning to the convention center.
The city projected in February that the new convention center would generate about $753.8 million in annual economic impacts, up from an estimated $468.8 million under the old center. The redeveloped center will support over 4,300 permanent jobs, officials said.
