Austin Office Pipeline Was Active During Q2

Austin was second among top markets for construction starts in the first half of the year.

By the end of June, Austin’s office pipeline hit 8.4 million square feet, representing 9.4 percent of total stock, according to CommercialEdge data. The Texas metro’s under-construction stock shrunk during the second quarter, decreasing from the 10.1 million square feet recorded at the end of March.

Nationally, nearly 151.7 million square feet of office space was taking shape at the end of June, amounting to 2.2 percent of total stock. The 26.5 million square feet that broke ground this year is situated mostly in the top 10 markets for construction starts, led by Sun Belt cities. The leading markets for office starts in the first half of 2022 were Dallas (3.8 million square feet) and Austin (2.7 million square feet).

Austin’s office pipeline, aligning to similar-growth Sun Belt cities, was animated during the second quarter of the year. Several office projects broke ground, while more than 830,000 square feet came online. Stream Realty Partners’ 372,000-square-foot RiverSouth project was the largest office building to be completed during these three months.

New projects in the office pipeline

In April, Carr Properties and Manifold Development broke ground on Block 16, a 738,000-square-foot office tower to reach 43 stories. Gensler is responsible for the design of the building that is currently rising at 201 San Jacinto Blvd., representing Carr’s first development in the Texas Capital.

That month, another significant downtown office property started to take shape: a joint venture between Ivanhoé Cambridge and Greystar broke ground on 1121 at Symphony Square in Austin’s Innovation District. To comprise 175,000 square feet, the seven-story building is planned to achieve LEED Gold certification.

In June, a joint venture between Lincoln Property Co. and Kairoi Residential broke ground on 98 Red River St., a 74-story supertall to become the highest tower in Texas. The 1,000-foot skyscraper is slated to offer 686,000 square feet of office space, 352 residential units and 251 hotel keys. The mixed-use tower was designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates and HKS.

CommercialEdge covers 8M+ property records in the United States. View the latest CommercialEdge national monthly office report here.