Two convention hotel proposals are being floated in Austin. Manchester Financial of San Diego has proposed to build a 1,035-room hotel at the northeast corner of Red River and Cesar Chavez streets, on a block owned by local developers Perry Lorenz and Robert Knight. A few blocks away, on Congress Avenue, White Lodging Services has proposed a 1,003-room Marriott Marquis.
The Arabian Shrine Center in Houston is being torn down. Archstone will build a 474-unit apartment project on the site, located at North Braeswood and Brompton Road, according to a report by Nancy Sarnoff of the Houston Chronicle.