Downtown Austin Skyscraper Lands 50 KSF Tenant

Indeed Tower. Rendering courtesy of Trammel Crow

Vinson & Elkins is set to relocate its Austin, Texas, office to Indeed Tower, a 716,438-square-foot development in the metro’s downtown. The international law firm signed for 50,273 square feet, set to occupy the entire 25th floor and part of the 26th.

The 36-story, Class A project developed by a joint venture between Trammell Crow Co. and Principal Real Estate Investors is the third-largest office project under construction in metro Austin. The partnership broke ground in 2018 and is set to finish construction by mid-year. The tenant roster also includes Indeed, the Teacher Retirement System of Texas and Brown Advisory Group, with the three having preleased roughly two-thirds of the project’s office component.

Located at 200 W. Sixth St. on a 1.8-acre site, Indeed Tower is within walking distance of the Texas Capitol. The project is also close to 6 x Guadalupe, a 1.1 million-square-foot, mixed-use project developed by Lincoln Property Co., The Lynd Co. and Kairoi Residential. That development is expected to come online in 2022.

Austin’s business magnetism

Austin continues its high-growth streak, as more companies are looking to relocate or expand in the Texas capital. Following high-profile announcements from major names including Tesla and Oracle, Digital Realty announced the relocation of its global headquarters from San Francisco to Austin. Earlier this month, online real estate investing platform CrowdStreet announced it plans to move its headquarters from Portland.

Meanwhile, Apple’s plan to double its number of employees in the metro is well underway, with the addition of a $1 billion campus in Northwest Austin. The 3 million-square-foot project is scheduled for completion in the second quarter of 2022.

Robust pipeline

The Texas capital has one of the most active construction pipelines in the U.S. As of February, the metro had approximately 7.7 million square feet of office space underway.

According to CommercialEdge, Austin’s pipeline represented 10.4 percent of total stock as of February, putting the metro only behind Charlotte (11.3 percent) among major U.S. metros, and underlying developer confidence in the metro’s long-term prospects as a growing business hub.