Willie Nelson: Co-Owner Of New `Austin City Limits’ Studio

AUSTIN, Texas (December 4, 2006) — Willie Nelson played the “Austin City Limits” pilot in 1974, and when the long-running public television music show unveils its new studio in 2010, he’ll be a co-owner of the place.

Nelson and nephew Freddy Fletcher will be partners in the studio and nightclub project with Austin-based majority owner Stratus Properties Inc.

Stratus will build the space as part of a $225 million project that will include a 35-story tower with 200 luxury condominiums atop a 250-room W Hotel; a new home for the Austin Children’s Museum; and shops and restaurants.

Unofficially dubbed Austin City Limits Studio Theater, the $15 million, 2,000-capacity venue will serve as a soundstage about 40 nights a year when KLRU’s “Austin City Limits” tapes. It will transform into a musically diverse House of Blues-style club on other nights.

Groundbreaking for the development is scheduled for next summer.

“It’s very exciting to be in on something from the ground up,” Fletcher said. “When I brought the idea to Willie a few years ago, he loved it.”

Nelson, 73, released his latest album, “Songbird,” on Lost Highway Records in October. His hits include “Georgia on My Mind,” “On the Road Again” and “City of New Orleans.”

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