Four construction liens have been filed against Arrive Austin, a luxury hotel in East Austin. The mechanics liens have been rolling in since January, with the most recent liens being recorded in June 2020.
Arrive was under construction for two years before opening its doors in July of 2019. It is located on East Sixth Street and Chicon. Arrive Austin is the third location opened by a Palm Springs, CA development company of the same name.
Local designers and other specialists from the Austin area worked with the California firm to complete the hotel. They include co-developers Alexa Management, project consultants Burton Baldridge Architects, Big Red Dog Engineering, DWG Landscape Architects, and EyeLikeDesign creative designers. The owner on the project is East 6th and Chicon Hotel, LLC.
All in all, the hotel has 56,800 square feet, 83 rooms, and other luxury amenities.
Unpaid Contractors Claim $1.4 Million
All four mechanics liens were filed by different contractors on various projects and improvements for the Austin hotel. In total, the liens amount to $1,393,422.30.
The highest value lien was filed on June 12th, 2020 by Austin Commercial Inc. for $1,215,738. Austin Commercial provided labor and materials for Arrive East Austin from May, 2017 to February, 2020. The lien was filed with the recorder’s office in Travis county, where the property is located.
The second largest lien was filed on January 15, 2020 in the amount of $150,924.30. It was filed by AirCo. Mechanical Ltd. after labor and materials that were furnished through the month of December 2019. AirCo was contracted by Austin Commercial for work to construct an HVAC system.
Brazos Masonry, Inc. filed a mechanics lien on February 13th, 2020, for a total of $13,885. Brazos was contracted by Austin Commercial for masonry work at Arrive East Austin provided throughout October 2019.
Dovetail Custom Woodworks recorded their lien for $12,875 on June 15th, 2020. Also hired by Austin Commercial, Dovetail provided labor and materials under a subcontract for millwork on the property.
None of the liens on Arrive East Austin have been resolved as of yet.
Hotel Industry Struggles Amid Pandemic
The tourism and hotel industry around the country has been facing considerable difficulty in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. In California, two hotels in downtown San Luis Obispo owe contractors over $7 million in mechanics lien claims. Tourism in the state, and across the country, has sharply reduced business for the hospitality sector. In San Louis Obispo County, hotel occupancy sat at 54% in June 2020, and 37.8% in May, compared to a peak of 76.4% occupancy in June of 2019.
Austin and Travis county are no different, with multiple hotels reporting coronavirus-related difficulties. Local events, like football games, festivals, and races, draw a large amount of tourists to Austin. According to Visit Austin, last year’s Formula One United States Grand Prix translated to 94 to 98 percent occupancy for local hotels. Events like these, however, are either cancelled or up-in-the-air for 2020.
As insecurity mounts across multiple industries, including hospitality and tourism, the contractors working on projects such as these are facing payment problems, usually from the top-down.