KBS Sells Austin Light Industrial Campus
This four-building property previously traded in 2005.
KBS has sold SouthTech Business Center, a 260,112-square-foot light industrial property in Austin, Texas. A 1031 investor represented by MIG Real Estate purchased the four-building campus. JLL brokered the transaction and Greenberg Traurig acted as legal counsel for the seller.
California Bank & Trust—a division of Zions Bancorporation—provided a $34.5 million loan for the acquisition of the Class A property, according to Travis County records.
SouthTech Business Center is on a major Capitol Metro bus route with multiple stops near the property. All images courtesy of KBS 
The campus consists of four buildings 
SouthTech Business Center came online in 2002 
SouthTech Business Center was 93 percent leased at the time of the sale 
The property has 744 surface parking spaces
KBS purchased SouthTech Business Center for $18.6 million back in 2005, CommercialEdge data shows. Completed in 2002, the campus comprises four buildings spread across some 20 acres. Each building features 21-foot clear heights and 145-foot truck courts, with climate-controlled warehouse space. The property also includes approximately 744 surface parking spaces.
After the acquisition, KBS made capital investments in every tenant area, which contributed to an increase in the average length of tenant occupancy to more than five years, according to Senior Vice President Brett Merz. SouthTech Business Center was 93 percent leased at the time of sale.
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The property’s tenant roster includes Collectic Home, U.S. General Services Administration, Republic National Distributing, Movair and MedtoMarket. Over the last 10 years, SouthTech Business Center had an average annual occupancy of 97 percent.
JLL Senior Managing Director Trent Agnew, Senior Director Charles Strauss, Director Lance Young and Analyst Brooke Petzold represented the seller. Greenberg Traurig’s team included attorneys Bruce Fischer, Howard Chu and Tina Ross, together with paralegal Amanda Kennedy.
Austin industrial market sets new record
Located at 2101 E. Street Elmo Road, SouthTech Business Center is in an Opportunity Zone in Southeast Austin. The property is near the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport and the intersection of Interstate 35 and Route 71, which provides easy access across the metro.
Austin’s industrial market recorded 3.2 million square feet of completed construction in the first three months of this year, a quarterly record for speculative space and the second consecutive quarter to surpass more than 3 million square feet of deliveries, according to a recent JLL report. Approximately 21.4 percent of the total space delivered was leased upon completion.
