New Boutique Hotel to Join the SoCo District

As the nation continues to struggle with difficult economic times, the Austin area continues to grow.  According to the Austin Business Journal, a new boutique hotel is slated to be built on South Congress Avenue, in an area that is just a half block south of the Congress Baptist Church.

The new hotel, which will be located across from Vespaio and Allen's Boots, will feature 90 rooms as well as two major restaurants.  Bill Gurasich, who is the co-founder of GSD&M and is behind the new development, also anticipates adding a coffee house to the new hotel as well as a variety of different retailers.

The site of the hotel, which is being designed by Dick Clark Architecture, is currently owned by the Congress Baptist Church and is currently being used as a parking lot.  Last year, the church had hired Oxford Commercial to help it find potential buyers for the property.  A recent mobile retail start-up called Hey Cupcake is also located in the lot and plans for the new boutique hotel include incorporating the Hey Cupcake! Airstream. 

In all, the new boutique hotel will offer 18,000 square feet of retail space as well as an underground parking garage capable of holding 350 vehicles.  Construction on the new hotel is slated to begin in February of 2009 and the hotel is expected to be completed by early 2010.  In addition to bringing new retail space and restaurants to the area, the parking garage is also expected to help reduce the parking problems that have long plagued the SoCo district.