On April 1, 2025, the Austin Convention Center will close for four years for a $1.6 billion reconstruction project. The city won’t be shutting down for the convention, though, as restaurants and convention centers are stepping in to assist. Leaders there stressed that the city would be open for meetings while the convention center was closed.
Four years is a long time for a city to be without a major convention center, but Austin has no choice. Tom Noonan, president and CEO of Visit Austin, said the city is losing 50 percent of its potential customers because of a lack of space in its centers.
“Austin is the 11th largest city in the United States, but we currently have the 59th largest convention center,” Noonan said. “This new center will make us more competitive within the state and against our key domestic competitors.”
Austin has experience hosting parties using multiple hotels and venues. South by Southwest has been held in the city every March since 1987, attracting thousands of attendees.
“We’re in a unique position in this strategy because we’ve been doing it for years,” Delgado said.
With conventions not expected to reopen until 2029, several hotels have partnered with what Visit Austin calls a “series” to give planners a streamlined multi-hotel option for hosting events in the city.
Here are four options planners can choose from while the Austin Convention Center is closed.
university collection
The AT&T Hotel and Conference Center is located in the heart of the University Collection, part of the University of Texas at Austin campus. The hotel will undergo a $30 million renovation next spring and summer, Texas’ off-season. The 297-room hotel will remain open during a $30 million renovation that will modernize more than 85,000 square feet of meeting space and 53 conference rooms. A new junior ballroom was also added.
“Hotels with that much meeting space typically have more than 297 rooms,” said Josh Delgado, director of sales and marketing for AT&T Hotels and Conference Centers.
The hotel is working with seven other hotels, all within walking distance, with room sizes ranging from 340 to 90, to accommodate large groups.
Austin Red River Series
The city’s other partner hotel is the Austin Red River Collection, which includes the 1,048-room Fairmont Austin, the 801-room Hilton Austin and the 319-room VanZant Hotel. There are 2,168 hotel rooms and 245,000 square feet of meeting and event space.
These are three luxury hotels in the Red River Cultural District, which consists of three blocks and is home to some of the city’s most popular bars and music venues.
white hotel
White Lodging also advertises that its 12 Austin hotels can accommodate large groups. Its largest hotel is the 1,102-room JW Marriott, just steps away from the 613-room Austin Marriott Downtown.
In total, White Lodging has more than 4,000 guest rooms and more than 220,000 square feet of meeting space in Austin. White Lodging has also added another hotel to its portfolio, the 258-room Hotel Trinity, Autograph Collection.
Second Street Campus
Properties in the Second Street area of Austin are also combined. These include ACL Live, W Austin, Austin Proper Hotel and JW Marriott.
Preparing After convention center closure, ACL Live at Moody Theater is expanding and enclosing an open pavilion Breakout sessions and smaller meetings. In addition, the attached W Hotel is undergoing a complete renovation.
