July 19–The 309-room Omni Barton Creek Resort & Spa is planning a major renovation and expansion that will cost nearly $70 million, according to filings with the city and state.
Work on the project, which includes plans for a new 10-story hotel tower, will start this fall, with completion set for 2019, according to applications submitted by Dallas-based Omni Hotels & Resorts.
The first phase has a $10.2 million price tag and includes demolishing an existing 177-space parking garage, event pavilion, golf cart staging pavilion and the resort's pro shop.
Once that work wraps up, the $57 million second phase kicks off. It will include the new 126,855-square-foot tower with 181 additional guest rooms, an 86,625-square-foot conference center, a 7,671-square-foot restaurant, a 160,380-square-foot parking garage, an additional surface parking lot, an event lawn and replacements for the pavilion, golf pro shop and golf cart staging area set to be demolished in the first phase.
The restaurant is identified in some of the filings as Bob's Steak and Chop House, an upscale Dallas-based chain that already operates one location in Austin at 301 Lavaca St. in downtown.
Documents indicate 10 new tennis courts will be built during construction, while 11 existing tennis courts will be relocated.
Plans call for existing facilities propertywide, including the resort's pools, to be upgraded.
Omni spokeswoman Molly Phillips told the American-Statesman that the company was in the final stages of the planning process and would release additional details soon.
Built in 1986, the resort and its accompanying golf course sit on 43.2 acres at 8212 Barton Club Drive in western Travis County. The site currently has 38 percent impervious cover, according to filings, and will have 52 percent impervious cover once the expansion is complete.
The resort sits within the city of Austin's extraterritorial jurisdiction. Under the terms of a 1998 agreement with the city, Omni says that the additional impervious cover is allowed. The hotel chain said it is allowed to develop up to 9.39 additional acres and the proposed projects will only occupy an additional 7.58 acres.
News of the Omni Barton Creek Resort & Spa's planned upgrades comes at the same time a competing property is undergoing similar work. Hyatt, the new owner of Travaasa Austin, at 13500 FM 2769, plans to shut the resort down this fall for several months' worth of construction.
Travaasa will grow from 70 to 120 rooms, double the size of its spa, expand its on-site restaurant and construct several new buildings, including an equine facility.
More than 100 Travaasa employees recently received notice that they'd be laid off while the work occurs. Hyatt said it hopes to temporarily shift many of those workers to other Austin-area properties, with an ultimate goal of rehiring them at Travaasa when it reopens.
