Universal Technical Institute Leases 100 KSF in Austin

301 W. Howard Lane. Image via Google Street View

Universal Technical Institute Inc., of Phoenix, has leased approximately 100,000 square feet of multi-use space at CM Tech Ridge in northeastern Austin, as a first step in developing its third educational campus in Texas.

READ ALSO: Top 5 Office Projects Under Construction in Austin

The facility joins campuses in Houston and Dallas–Fort Worth and is the 13th campus nationally for UTI, a leading provider of transportation technician training.

The campus reportedly will be designed with an innovative and more efficient layout to support UTI’s new blended-learning curriculum, which provides both digital and hands-on training elements. UTI CEO Jerome Grant said in a prepared statement that among the blended-learning model’s benefits is that it enables the company to reduce its physical footprint.

Among the expected initial offerings at the campus will be automotive, diesel and welding technology programs, with capacity for additional programs to be added in the future. The Austin campus is slated to open during the second quarter of fiscal 2022, subject to completion of the campus build-out and other conditions.

The space in question appears to be in Building II, the smaller of the two buildings at the site, or 301 W. Howard Lane. UTI evidently is taking the flex/warehouse space subject to a sublease that runs through May 2025.

Neither UTI; Stream Realty, which represents the sublessor; nor HPI Real Estate Services & Investments, which represents the building’s owner, CM Management Co., responded to Commercial Property Executive’s requests for additional information.

The property was completed in 1998, according to information provided to Commercial Property Executive by CommercialEdge.

Steady performer

Overall vacancies for flex/R&D space in Austin declined throughout 2020, hitting a low of 8.6 percent in the fourth quarter, according to a market report from CBRE. Metrowide, the average rent for such space was $12.33 per square foot.

In the Northeast submarket, flex/R&D rents averaged $9.32 per square foot and the overall vacancy was 7.4 percent, on an inventory of 4.2 million square feet, according to CBRE.