Drawbridge Secures First Tenant at Austin Development

Uplands Corporate Center Phase II. Photo courtesy of Drawbridge Realty

Drawbridge Realty has secured the first tenant at its upcoming Phase II of Uplands Corporate Center in Austin, Texas. Infrastructure design and consultancy firm Kimley-Horn signed a 19,601-square-foot lease at the property, expanding its presence in the state. Executive Managing Director Kevin Granger and Executive Director Matt Frizzell of Cushman & Wakefield represented Drawbridge Realty.

Uplands Corporate Center is located at 5301 SW Parkway, on a 48-acre site. Phase II is a three-story building comprising 124,080 square feet of Class A office space, expected to open this May. Floorplates average about 41,000 square feet. Amenities are set to include outdoor lounges with Wi-Fi, walking/running trails, a fitness center, food truck area and EV charging stations. A dedicated traffic light was added on Southwest Parkway and developers recently completed an expansion of the parking, which offers a 4.5/1,000 ratio. The building will also feature View Dynamic Glass, a smart glass system that adjusts tint levels based on several factors.

Structura Inc. is the main contractor for the project, while LEVY provides architectural services. The developer concentrated on sustainability features for the second phase, targeting LEED and WELL certifications. Taking into consideration the current health crisis, the property is set to offer touchless check-in processes, hand sanitizer stations, single-use work areas and reduced density.

Together with the project’s first phase, Drawbridge Realty now owns approximately 300,000 square feet of office space within the 48-acre campus. The property is roughly 9 miles southwest of downtown Austin. Major tenants at Uplands Corporate Center include defense and aerospace company Textron Systems and ResearchPoint Global, a biotechnology firm.

In January, San Francisco-based Drawbridge Realty completed a $149 million refinancing, secured by four of its office properties located in Southern California and Austin, all of which are fully leased.

Austin office market at a crossroads

According to a recent CommercialEdge office report, Austin had approximately 7.8 million square feet of office space underway as of February, accounting for 10.4 percent of total stock, second only to Charlotte (11.3 percent) among major U.S. metros and more than four times the 2.5 percent national figure.

Under pressure from a highly active pipeline, the metro’s vacancy rate almost doubled year-over-year, up 720 basis points to 15.1 percent as of February, the report shows. Even so, the metro’s average listing rate was down only 1.6 percent over 12 months.