Live from downtown Austin! ACL to debut cozier 3TEN venue

​​​​AUSTIN - ​A second, smaller Austin City Limits-branded venue will debut in March in the same building that houses ACL Live at The Moody Theater in downtown Austin. ​

The new venue, to be called 3TEN ACL Live, will take over a ground-floor space on Block 21 at 310 Willie Nelson Blvd., the site of the W Austin Hotel and Residences.

Expected to host about 200 concerts and events each year, 3TEN will also employ about 50 people.

With a capacity of about 350, 3TEN promises to be cozier than ACL Live, which can accommodate about 2,700 people.

For those who’ve been to ACL Live, 3TEN will look, sound and feel awfully familiar. Many of the same companies that built ACL Live worked on the new venue.

Many of the performers who play 3TEN will be up-and-comers who don’t have a large enough fan base yet to fill ACL Live. But, with a little exposure, the hope is that some will be back in a few years to record an episode of "Austin City Limits."

"There’s a real need for this room. This room is going to be a steppingstone to the big room," Jack McFadden, ACL Live’s senior talent buyer, said.

"The whole idea is to create an intimate listening environment. It’s all about the experience, the connection between the artist and the fan," ACL Live executive producer Terry Lickona said.

A diverse mix of events have already been booked, including several official South by Southwest showcases.