Top 5 Office Developments Underway in Austin

Austin boasts healthy office fundamentals and a friendly business environment, which draws major companies in search of new high-end space in and around its core. Tech giants including Oracle, Google and Facebook have announced expansion details, increasing their presence in the metro. In the 12 months ending in March, office-using jobs counted 10,400 new positions. Consequently, as of June, the capital city had more than 7 million square feet of office space under construction.

Downtown leads construction activity, hosting four of the top five largest office projects that are being developed in the metro. The list below ranks the largest office projects underway in Texas’ capital, based on data provided by Yardi Matrix.

5. Texas Capitol – Phase I – Building II

Texas Capitol – Phase I – Building II. Image courtesy of Page Southerland Page

This phase of construction will add 416,000 square feet of rentable office space, in a 12-story building owned by the Texas Facilities Commission. Located at 1601 Congress Ave. on a 4.3-acre site, the high-rise will be complemented by 2,050 parking spaces. The speculative development is slated for completion in 2021 and has made sustainability one of the focal points of its design, minimizing the building’s environmental impact and operation costs by reducing energy and water consumption.

Energy costs will be kept low through an integrative modeling process that targets demand control ventilation, which will reduce cooling loads and optimize the high-performance building envelope through integrated vertical granite fins for sun-shading. Natural light access, an open office layout and daylight responsive controls will also contribute to lighting power reduction design during daytime hours. Water-saving features include green roofs, the use of reclaimed water for irrigation, as well as landscaping that consists of non-invasive, drought tolerant plant species.

Page Southerland Page is the lead consultant on the Capitol Complex, with additional master-planning coming from Sasaki Associates. HDR handles infrastructure planning.

4. Oracle Campus Phase II

Oracle Campus, Austin, Texas. Image courtesy of STG Design

The second phase of construction at Oracle’s project is an eight-story building spread across 25 acres at 2300 Cloud Way in Austin’s Southeast submarket. It will add another 420,000 square feet of office space for the California-based giant to fill with up to 10,000 employees. Oracle received the site permit for this second phase in August 2018, which is anticipated for delivery by the end of the year.

The complex will feature a full-service restaurant and a food truck, a Starbucks coffee shop, game rooms, a fitness center and a 295-unit apartment component. Local firm STG Design is the architect of the development, Ryan Cos. the general contractor and TBG Partners the landscape architect.

3. Texas Capitol – George H. W. Bush State Office Building

Texas Capitol – George H. W. Bush State Office Building. Image courtesy of Page Southerland Page

The project calls for a 14-story, 603,000-square-foot asset occupying 2.5 acres at 1801 Congress Ave., and, just like the 12-story high-rise we listed on the fifth position of our ranking, it is part of the Texas Capitol Complex that will transform the 40-block area surrounding the Texas State Capitol. 

This first phase of the Texas Facilities Commission’ master-planned development is estimated to cost $581 million. The building received its permit in July last year with delivery anticipated for 2022 and will have 2,550 parking spots assigned, as well as an on-site café. As the lead consultant on the Capitol Complex, Page Southerland Page is behind this development as well. 

2. Indeed Tower

Indeed Tower. Image courtesy of Trammell Crow Co.

A Trammell Crow Co. asset in partnership with Principal Real Estate Investors, the project is located on a 1.8-acre site at 200 W. Sixth St. in Austin’s CBD. The 554-foot, 36-story tower, previously known as Block 71, broke ground in October 2017 and will total 683,000 square feet of office space with floor plates ranging from 20,783 to 33,778 square feet. It includes 25,000 square feet of retail and food hall on the ground floor and a 20,000-square-foot urban greenspace in the northwest corner of the site that will serve both the tenants of the office building and the Claudia Taylor Johnson post office building. It will be served by 1,500 parking spaces in a multi-level structure and has the estimated delivery set for the second quarter of 2021. The development team will seek LEED Gold certification and Austin Energy Green Building Two-Star Commercial Rating.

Indeed and TRS have already leased space in the building—Indeed has signed a long-term lease for floors 27 to 36, which total approximately 307,000 square feet. TRS has signed a lease agreement for more than 100,000 square feet. Page Southerland Page serves as the development’s architect, DPR is the general contractor. CBRE Austin is handling the leasing and marketing of the project, and debt financing is provided by a syndication of JP Morgan Chase Bank and Wells Fargo Bank.

1. Block 185

Another Trammell Crow Co. asset, Block 185 is Austin’s largest office development underway at 601 W. Second St., also in the city’s CBD. The 589-foot, 35-story building totals 723,000 square feet on a 1.3-acre lot that is the last of the four parcels of the former Greenwater plant redevelopment and is already fully leased by Google. It includes 8,100 square feet of retail space on the ground floor and 10 levels of parking (second floor to the 10^th). It will also include a fitness center and recreation areas, lounges, kitchen and dining areas, conference centers and a bar/tavern. The structure is slated for delivery in 2022.

Its sail-like design was outfitted by Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects. Also part of the development team are Austin-based STG Design and Campbell Landscape Architecture. The project’s financial backer is MSD Capital.