Austin Convention Center: Four Building Permits Issued Oct. 19, Each Listing $418.6 Million

The city of Austin issued four building permits on Monday, Oct. 19, for new construction of the Austin Convention Center at 500 E. Third St. Each one carries the same stated value, $418,582,000, and the contractor on all four is JE Dunn Construction, half of the JE Dunn–Turner joint venture building the project. According to ATX Things' review of city permit records in Austin, Texas, they arrive more than a year after the old building closed and weeks after the project's own site says steel started going up.

What did the city issue on Oct. 19?

Four building permits, all class "New," all listed as Active, all at 500 E. Third St. in City Council District 9:

Two things stand out. The permit descriptions call the project a "PULBLIC PROJECT" (sic), which is how the city's record spells it, and two of the four are labeled Area 1. The record does not say why. It may be a second Area 1 component or a labeling slip, and we can't tell from the data.

What is the whole project, according to the city?

The Austin Convention Center Department says the new building grows rentable space from 365,000 to 620,000 square feet at a cost of $1.6 billion, funded through Hotel Occupancy Tax and convention center revenue. The project goes by the name UnconventionalATX. The Turner/JE Dunn joint venture was selected as construction manager in 2023, and the old building closed in April 2025.

If you want the tax side of that funding, our hotel occupancy tax data page tracks what Austin and other metro cities collect, by fiscal year. We are not using any of those figures in this piece.

Why are the permits showing up now?

Because the paperwork is trailing the work, at least on the project's own telling. The project site's timeline says:

• December 2025: the diaphragm wall, the first permanent structural element, was complete.
• May 2026: the first footings were poured.
• August 2026: steel arrives on site and is installed through 2027.

The site-progress page says excavation was 93% complete as of August, with about 940,000 cubic yards of soil to come out in total, and that vertical steel installation began in September. It also lists three construction cranes on site.

So how did footings and steel go in before the building permits we're reporting? We don't know. Large projects are commonly permitted in stages, and our database shows no earlier "new construction" building permit at this address. It does show smaller, related permits: a July 6 building permit for an Austin Energy temporary electrical vault on Trinity Street, described as building power "during construction of the Austin Convention Center" (contractor JE Dunn), and an Oct. 2025 electrical permit for relocating CapMetro rail equipment under the redevelopment. Earlier foundation or demolition permits could sit under another address, another permit type, or a record we haven't synced. We have not asked the city how this one was staged. If you know, tell us.

When will it open?

Depends who you ask, and the official sources don't line up.

A reasonable reading is that construction completes in 2028 and the first events come in 2029. That is our inference, not a date anyone has published.

What does this mean for downtown right now?

The big building is not going to be open for a while, but the rest of the system keeps running. The city says the department's parking garages at 201 E. Second St. and 601 E. Fifth St. continue to operate during the closure, and that the Palmer Events Center at 900 Barton Springs Rd. remains open and bookable. We have not checked garage rates or hours, so confirm before you drive down.

The department's news page says the Historic Trask House and Kitchen returned to its original home on Neches Street in an April 29 event, and the project describes it as being preserved for the future campus.

What do we still not know?

• Why the permits issued this week, and what they cover versus the work already under way.
• What the second "Area 1" permit is.
• Whether any dollar amount on the permits is a real per-permit value.
• The opening date. Two official pages say 2028 and 2029 in different words.
• What the city's review looked like. We read the permit records, not the plans.

What locals should know

• The permit numbers are searchable. Use the city's permit search for 2026-137243 BP through 2026-137246 BP, or browse Austin's permit and project data on our sister data platform.
• The records update. If staged permits for Area 2 or Area 3 show up as separate items, we'll report what changes.
• Related reading: our look at Amazon's East Austin plant and the foundations permitted before its state filing, and the 26 Barton permits each marked $1 million show the same thing: a permit's dollar figure is what was typed in, not necessarily what it costs.

This desk publishes twice a day, morning and afternoon, on what's actually open, actually happening and actually worth your time. Follow @austintexasthings for the next filing.

FAQ

What did Austin issue for the convention center on Oct. 19, 2026?

Four building permits (2026-137243 through 2026-137246 BP) for new construction at 500 E. Third St., each listing a stated value of $418,582,000 and JE Dunn Construction as contractor. Two are labeled Area 1, one Area 2, one Area 3.

How much does the new Austin Convention Center cost?

The city's convention center department says $1.6 billion, funded through Hotel Occupancy Tax and convention center revenue. The four permit values multiply out to $1.67 billion, but that is not a reliable price.

When does the new Austin Convention Center open?

Not settled in the sources we read. The department says completion in 2028 and is booking events for 2029 and beyond. The project's progress page says early 2029.

Where do events go while it's closed?

The Palmer Events Center at 900 Barton Springs Rd. remains open, according to the city's convention center site. The old building closed in April 2025.

Where can I read the permits?

City of Austin permit search, permits 2026-137243 BP through 2026-137246 BP. Sources: City of Austin permits via Zabalist, synced Oct. 20, 2026; austinconventioncenter.com and unconventionalatx.com, read Oct. 21, 2026; JE Dunn project page.