Austin, Texas -- White Lodging Services Corp. plans to develop three hotels downtown here, which together will add 1,000 guest rooms and 50,000 square feet of meeting space to the city's lodging inventory.
Scheduled for a summer 2009 completion, the project will be built on a parcel located two blocks from the Austin Convention Center. It will consist primarily of the following hotels, all brands of Marriott International: a 650-room, full-service Marriott, 200-room Renaissance, and 150-room Springhill Suites by Marriott.
"We believe that adding 1,000 upscale hotel rooms to the downtown market will help attract additional convention business to Austin, enabling the city to compete more effectively with other convention destinations," White Lodging president Deno Yiankes said Friday in announcing the $185-million project.
White Lodging is already the largest owner and operator of hotels in Austin, with 16 local hotels in its portfolio, including three hotels opening this fall: the combined 450-room Residence Inn and Courtyard Downtown, located adjacent to the convention center; and the Courtyard by Marriott Airport..
Headquartered in Merrillville, Ind., White Lodging manages 106 hotels at present, including two convention hotels: the 616-room Marriott Louisville Downtown, and 615-room Marriott Indianapolis Downtown. The company's western division is headquartered in Austin.