Austin Market Update: Sales Activity Slow as Pipeline Shines

In February, office transactions in Austin, Texas, recorded a single significant sale, totaling 240,000 square feet, according to CommercialEdge. Austin office sales saw the total transacted area increase year-over-year by some 40,000 square feet.

Last month, Tishman Speyer entered the market with the purchase of The Foundry, a two-building asset totaling 240,000 square feet. Cielo Property Group sold the first building and is set to finalize the trade for the still-under-construction second facility in May. Vice Chairman Mike McDonald and Managing Director Katy Jane Jenevein of Cushman & Wakefield represented the seller. 

In February 2020, PRP Real Estate Investment Management acquired Parmer 3.3, a 204,000 office building, from Karlin Real Estate. CommercialEdge data shows that BBVA USA provided $99 million in financing for the transaction. Built in 2019, the property is occupied by 3M.

The Austin office market is facing an uncertain period, as the state is reopening businesses and readjusting in the wake of last month’s snowstorm. However, the rapidly growing metro has the potential of becoming an increasingly important regional business hub. As of February, the metro had 7.7 million square feet of office space underway, CommercialEdge data shows. Last month, Austin’s office pipeline represented 10.4 percent of total stock, putting the metro on the national podium, second only to Charlotte (11.3 percent) among major markets. The metro also continues to be a magnet for tech companies looking to relocate from expensive areas such as northern California. In January, data center company Digital Realty announced the move of its San Francisco corporate offices to Austin.

CommercialEdge covers 8M+ property records in the United States. View the latest CommercialEdge national monthly office report here. We included properties of 25,000+ square feet in our research.