HHSC Headquarters Breaks Ground in North Austin

By Anca Gagiuc

Texas Health and Human Services Commission rendering

The North Austin Complex, located in the vicinity of 45^th Street, 51^st Street and North Lamar Boulevard, has entered an expansion phase. The property, which will serve primarily as headquarters for the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC), is slated for completion in 2020.

The project was approved and funded by the 84^th Texas Legislature in 2017 with a $186 million budget. It features the addition of a nine-story, 406,000-square-foot state office building and a multi-level parking garage with 1,850 spaces. The first floor will host the training facilities, some offices and a dining area, intermediate levels feature high-density office space, while the top floor will feature executive suites. Both structures will be located southwest of the John H. Winters Buildings at 51^st Street and Lamar Boulevard.

In it for the long run

“This is going to save the state money and make operations simpler with key departments physically closer together,” Chris Adams, deputy executive commissioner for System Support Services, said in a prepared statement.

Specifically, by retiring leases, the state will save about $8 million a year as currently agencies of HHSC currently lease more than 600,000 gross square feet of privately owned office space throughout the Austin area. In addition, the Texas Facilities Commission is asking lawmakers for money for the construction of another building that will allow all HHSC leases to be retired, saving the state another $5.6 million a year. This second building would comprise 302,000 square feet of office space and 2,000 parking spaces. Estimates show that the state would get a full return of its investment within 38 years.  

Image courtesy of the Texas Health and Human Services Commission