The Owners of 21c Museum Hotel in Louisville Planning
a 44-story Museum/Hotel/Restaurant and Residential Complex in Austin, Texas
AUSTIN,
Texas, June 11, 2007 - Luxury condominiums, a high-end hotel, a world-class
contemporary art collection open free to the public 365 days per year,
a landmark restaurant and artists' lofts will comprise the 21c Austin project
when it opens in Texas' capital city in 2010. Project developers plan to
break ground in the first quarter of 2008.
The project will be the second 21c project and the first with residential
units. Developers stress that the Austin version will not replicate Louisville,
Kentucky's award-winning 21c Museum
Hotel, but will reflect Austin's famously laid-back lifestyle through
an extraordinary approach to art-inspired life and commerce.
"Our goal is to blend a love of art, Texas-style comfort and 21st Century
technology into a property that is uniquely Austin," Steve Wilson, Chairman
of ACE (Art Commerce Entertainment) Unlimited, one of the development partners,
said. "The driver here is art, in all its forms -- contemporary art by
emerging and acclaimed regional and international artists; architecture
of the finest caliber; and cuisine by true artisans in the culinary world."
A soaring, 44-story addition to Austin's burgeoning skyline will house
21c Austin and will be home to the project's 209-room hotel, 202 residential
units, spa, pool, museum, restaurants and other amenities. The project,
including an underground parking garage, will total 779,000 square feet
and will represent a $200-million investment. Each room in the hotel will
feature original works of art, contemporary furnishings and luxurious amenities.
The project will include an innovative and accessible restaurant that
will emphasize local and sustainable agriculture and feature contemporary
American cuisine. Michael Bonadies, CEO of ACE, was previously a founding
partner of the New York-based Myriad Restaurant Group, which owns and operates
such well-known restaurants as Tribeca Grill, Nobu and Rubicon. Bonadies
was instrumental in the development of the 21c concept. "21c is an experience-based
brand, with its exceptional blend of art, great food and fun surroundings,"
Bonadies said.
Some of 21c's most innovative aspects will be its artist lofts and
new contemporary art museum. Twelve artists' lofts will be made available
at favorable rental rates for living and studio space. The museum will
provide a new venue for contemporary visual and performing arts. "We intend
to partner with local arts groups and look forward to joining Austin's
thriving arts community," Wilson said.
"Austin has seen a boom in condominium development, but the luxury
condos of 21c will fill a particular niche that is completely new to this
market and which we expect to be embraced by this innovative city, particularly
at this one-of-a-kind site," said Steve Poe, President and CEO of the Poe
Companies, a Louisville real estate investment, development and management
firm.
The site is one of Austin's last under-developed downtown properties,
just one block from the city's main street -- Congress Avenue -- and one
block from the Austin Convention Center.
The team of architects for the project includes Deborah Berke &
Partners (http://www.dberke.com), a New York-based firm with a portfolio
of institutional, commercial and residential architecture; Goody Clancy
Architecture (http://www.goodyclancy.com), a Boston firm that brings deep
expertise in urban design and large scale urban residential projects to
the table; and Susman Tisdale Gayle (http://www.stgarchitects.com), an
Austin firm with an integrated approach to architecture, planning and interior
design.
Other team members include REI Real Estate Partnerships, an Indiana
firm led by Mike Wells, president; Austin-based Ironwood Real Estate, a
partnership between local developers Matthew Hooks and Scot Krieger; and
urbanspace Realtors, led by Kevin Burns, which specializes in marketing
and leasing high-end residential and mixed-used properties in downtown
Austin.
Members of the 21c Austin team have a successful track record of collaborating
on development projects, including the $480-million, 62-story Museum Plaza,
scheduled to begin construction in downtown Louisville in September, 2007. |