Austin council advances convention-center financing as petitioners seek voter review

The Austin City Council on Oct. 23 approved multiple items to advance the long‑planned Austin Convention Center redevelopment, responding to pleas from hotels and the tourism industry to keep the project on schedule even as opponents urged the council to pause until a voter petition is resolved.

Supporters, including Visit Austin and downtown hotel general managers, framed the redevelopment as an economic engine that supports local jobs, restaurants and arts funding. Opponents and petitioners said the city is taking on excessive debt and that voters should decide whether hotel‑occupancy tax revenue and six downtown blocks should be used for a new convention center.

Tom Noonan, president and CEO of Visit Austin, said the convention center is a driver of weekday hotel occupancy and local jobs: “This building is an economic engine for Austin,” Noonan told the council. He said the city already has confirmed bookings and tentatively held events for the new facility and warned that a delay could cause sustained economic harm to downtown businesses and workers.

Hotel executives and industry trade groups echoed that message. Jeff Donahoe, general manager of the Hyatt Regency Austin, described group business as critical to his hotel’s revenue and to staff livelihoods. Scott Blaylock, general manager of the JW Marriott, said the lack of a convention center already has depressed downtown occupancy in recent months.

Opponents at the meeting argued the city should not issue new debt or proceed before the petition is certified and, if valid, put to voters. Bill Bunch of Save Our Springs Alliance criticized the financing plan as excessive and urged the council to stop issuing bonds before a community vote. A number of speakers, including Betsy Greenberg and other petition supporters, said more of the city’s hotel‑tax revenue should support cultural investments rather…