A new hotel-and-condominium high-rise is being planned for downtown Austin, with a site along Congress Avenue associated with the project. The proposed tower is associated with the 400–408 Congress Ave. site.
Plans are in the works for Austin’s next high-rise, which is set to come to life along Congress Avenue, according to The Business Journals. The outlet reports the planned tower would include both a hotel and condominiums.
A Corridor Already Mid-Transformation
The potential tower would rise along a stretch of Congress Avenue that is already in the middle of a major physical overhaul. The Congress Avenue Urban Design Initiative, a $29 million project running between Cesar Chavez Street and Seventh Street, began construction in January 2026 and is scheduled for completion in summer 2027, according to the Austin American-Statesman. That redesign is meant to add protected bike lanes, trees, planters and wider sidewalks without removing space for cars, the paper reports.
Other projects nearby point to a corridor under sustained pressure for new development. The Statesman also notes that Leland South Congress, a separate seven-story condominium project, is planned to bring 265 residences to South Congress along with ground-floor retail and dining space. Further north, SomeraRoad has announced a planned 90,000-square-foot open-air lifestyle center at the Twin Oaks Shopping Center, though the paper states no timeline for that project has been announced.
Other High-Rises in the Pipeline
The proposed Congress Avenue project would join several other hotel and residential towers either approved or proposed around downtown Austin in recent months. City leaders have already approved a separate development featuring two high-rise buildings along West Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, according to KXAN. Those towers are planned to exceed 400 feet and include more than 300 apartments, 287 hotel rooms, more than 60 condominium units and roughly 10,000 square feet of retail space, the station reports.
Elsewhere on Congress Avenue itself, a separate proposal at 422 Congress Avenue would replace Shiner’s Saloon with a 36-story hotel tower potentially carrying the AC by Marriott brand, according to Austin Towers. That version of the project is described as containing 340 rooms along with 2,800 square feet of meeting space and a 5,500-square-foot restaurant. Developer David Merritt told the outlet the project is still in early due diligence and has not locked down a brand identity.
Austin Towers has also reported on a proposed 55-story residential tower at 308–318 Congress Avenue that would rise behind historic storefronts, with preliminary plans describing 450 residential units. The Historic Landmark Commission’s Architectural Review Committee recommended postponing consideration of that separate proposal to its December 14 meeting, requesting more information and a deeper setback, the outlet notes. The committee also raised demolition concerns and said new construction should remain subordinate to landmark buildings on the block, including the adjacent Koppel building. None of those details apply to the 402–408 Congress Ave. project, which remains far less defined for now.
