Last week, the Austin City Council approved a massive rezoning for Circuit of the Americas (COTA), a 1,155-acre site in Southeast Austin. The request was years in the making for COTA, which has been planning a bigger tourist magnet near Austin-Bergstrom International Airport since at least 2018.
The development pipeline already includes an 11-story hotel, a water park and a children’s amusement park, according to COTA chairman, Bobby Epstein. The larger vision is to create indoor and outdoor sports complexes, condos, retail space and a private motorsports club.
“Step one is getting the zoning approved so that we can go back to the investors and say, ‘Come back to the table,’” Epstein said.
Arm Epic Lodging Partners has signed on to the project as hotel and water park developer. Rocky Williams, an Arm Epic vice president, previously said construction on those elements of that plan could start as soon as next summer. Construction is expected to take 24 months, barring further delays. Initial design plans call for a 100,000-square-foot indoor water park, 350 rooms and 34,000 square feet of meeting and ballroom space. The zoning allows for future expansion of the hotel to up to 508 rooms.
