In the country’s metropolitan areas, the definition of a central business district hangs in the balance. Even in Austin, where leasing is roughly in line with pre-2019 totals, the actual occupancy rate for offices is only around 65%. That means tons of empty tables, not to mention headaches for landlords when those leases come up for renewal.
As the school year draws to a close, The Real Deal rounds up some yearbook-style awards for the CBD based on Aquila Commercial’s most recent first-quarter office report, which in turn draws data from CoStar.
To be fair, buildings are divided into two parts: pre-2014 and post-2014 buildings. In a post-pandemic “quest for quality,” as the industry parlance puts it, tenants are often opting to take up less space in newer buildings. Therefore, each of them has its own weight class.
Before 2014
Small but mighty: 501 Congress Avenue | 5 floors
The office building is 62 years old, even though it is the most senior building on the stretch. The building is owned by the US arm of the Swiss investment fund AFIAA and is 100% leased.
There aren’t many of them, but they’re honest leases: 400 West 15th Street | 17th Floor
400 West is just north of 15th Street, an area of the central business district that doesn’t have as much investment as the neighborhood around Lady Bird Lake. Built in 1981, It looks like an older version of the Austin skyline, with tall window bars instead of the clear glass walls of the city’s newer high-rises. The building is only half leased, but the signed tenants have not yet sublet.
A Steady Hand: Frost Bank Tower | 401 Congress Avenue | 33rd Floor
austin one most iconic tower From the moment it is built, Frost Bank Tower is 100% leased and all spaces are non-subletable. It was developed by Cousins Properties, an Atlanta-based office REIT, but since 2015, it has been owned by Lionstone Investments. Built in 2003, the tower is no longer Austin’s tallest or newest office building. It will be renovated in 2022 to maintain the grade of a Grade A office building. Its three floors will be leased in 2025: the 26,800-square-foot 15th floor, and the 25th and 26th floors, which share an interior staircase, for a total of 46,800 square feet.
Broken Hearts: Chase Tower | 221 West 6th Street | 21st Floor
Built in 1974, this is another long-time player in Austin’s office scene. It is 93 percent leased, but has 126,600 square feet, or one-third of its floor area, available for sublease.That even includes its namesake JPMorgan Chase Bank, which in 2021 confirmed it was move Enter 405 Colorado by Brandywine Realty Trust. CIM Group The Chase Building was acquired in 2019.
After 2014
Austin’s skyline is constantly being redrawn as developers from Texas and around the world flood the capital’s real estate market. Overall, these buildings have much lower vacancy rates than older buildings. Aesthetically, they have traded stone for glass, and many are experimenting with new possibilities for CBD development.
A large number of buildings listed in the Aquila report are completely rented: 300 Colorado Street, 500 West 2nd Street, 701 Rio Grande Street, IBC Bank Plaza at 500 West 5th Street, and Third + Shoal at 208 Nueces Street. There are some notable exceptions here.
Switch batter: Quincy | 93 Red River Street | 29th Floor
Quincy, one of a handful of new Austin towers integrating work-life, is betting on the power of office space rainy block. The office portion of the building is 96% leased, with 26,000 sq. ft. for subleases and another 4,400 sq. ft. for direct leases.
Looking for Love: 1836 San Jacinto Blvd | 9th Floor
The Texas Employees Retirement System building, due in 2021, is only 54% leased. It has 106,700 square feet for sale, but no sublet space available.
Big Devil: Sixth Place + Guade | 400 West Sixth Street | 66th Floor
When Meta declares it will Subleased, not occupied, 589,000 sq. ft. In Lincoln Property Company’s premier office space on Sixth + Guad, the city’s worst fears of a commercial real estate explosion sparked by the tech downturn appear to be coming true.Since then, a number of other anchor tenants have told landlords they will buy their space, including TikTok and 3Mbut the biggest dominoes such as Google, Apple and IBM have not yet fallen.
Sublet Specialist: Shoal Creek Walk | 835 West 6th Street | 15th Floor
The Schlosser Development-onwed building is fully leased, though it has four spaces available for sublease totaling nearly 69,000 square feet, almost a third of its leasable square footage. Built in 2017, Shoal Creek Walk was Schlosser’s largest development when construction began, and it’s known for its funky, uneven window trim.
