Austin unveils design for $1.26 billion convention center expansion, pledges net‑zero carbon goal

The Austin City Council on Feb. 25 heard a public unveiling of the design for the new Austin Convention Center and a review of schedule, budget and sustainability goals.

Tricia Tetreault, director of the Austin Convention Center Department, introduced the project and described it as the culmination of a decade of planning. "Today is an important day, not only for our department, but for the community at large, and marks a huge milestone in our 10 year journey to expansion," Tetreault said.

The project team said the expansion carries a construction budget of $1,260,000,000 and will increase rentable square footage from about 365,000 square feet to 620,000 square feet, with space reserved to add an additional 40,000 square feet later. The city plans to close the current facility in April for demolition, begin construction through 2028 and reopen in spring 2029.

Why it matters: City staff said proceeds from hotel occupancy taxes and convention center revenues will fund the work. The redesign is intended to expand Austin's ability to host larger and multiple concurrent events, bolster the hospitality and tourism sectors and knit the eastern edge of downtown into surrounding districts, speakers said.

The architects and project staff described several prominent elements of the design: a fragmented, block‑scale building with two large…