{"id":4556,"date":"2025-06-04T05:39:05","date_gmt":"2025-06-04T05:39:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/blog\/?p=4556"},"modified":"2025-11-12T09:43:27","modified_gmt":"2025-11-12T09:43:27","slug":"austin-office-vacancy-climbs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/blog\/austin-office-vacancy-climbs\/","title":{"rendered":"Austin Office Vacancy Hits 28.9%; Development Pipeline Leads Major Markets by Inventory Share"},"content":{"rendered":"

Austin, Texas,<\/a> continues to stand out among major U.S. office markets for both its elevated vacancy rate and the scale of its development pipeline.<\/p>\n

At the end of April, vacancy hit 28.9%, second only to San Francisco and up 650 basis points year-over-year \u2014 the sharpest rise among large metros, according to the latest CommercialCafe Office Report<\/a>. The increase follows several years of heavy construction, much of it launched just as a national development slowdown was taking hold. At the time, Austin remained a magnet for new Class A product, supported by some of the highest office usage rates in the country.<\/p>\n

Since 2020, developers have delivered about 14 million square feet of new office space \u2014 equal to 12.3% of total inventory. But, the pace has since cooled: Just 1.3 million square feet has broken ground since early 2023, as compared to 8.8 million between 2020 and 2022.<\/p>\n

Even so, Austin maintains one of the most active pipelines in the country: More than 3.2 million square feet is under construction to rank third nationally. That accounts for 3.4% of local inventory \u2014 the highest share among major markets. Another 10.6% of inventory sits in the planned stage.<\/p>\n

Notably, two of the largest projects underway \u2014 The Republic and Waterline \u2014 broke ground in 2022. The Republic, a 48-story downtown office tower, is expected to deliver later this year with 833,000 square feet. As of late 2024, it was roughly half leased. In May, anchor tenant Vista Equity listed about 40% of its 200,750-square-foot lease for sublease \u2014 an early sign that it may scale back ahead of move-in.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Waterline \u2014 a 74-story, mixed-use tower in the Rainey Street District \u2014 is scheduled to open in 2026. Developed by Lincoln Property Company and Kairoi Residential, it includes around 700,000 square feet of office and will be the tallest tower in Texas. After breaking ground in late 2022 amid growing economic uncertainty, Kairoi CEO, Michael Lynd Jr., pointed to long-term fundamentals \u2014 population growth, workforce depth and a strong business climate \u2014 despite near-term volatility.<\/p>\n

\u201cDownturns and values are points in time,\u201d he told the Austin American-Statesman<\/em><\/a>. \u201cIt\u2019s easy to lose sight of what makes Austin one of the best markets in the country.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since then, San Antonio-based Kairoi has remained active. It recently delivered Sixth and Guadalupe (again with Lincoln Property), which currently stands as Austin\u2019s tallest building. The firm is also planning a 66-story tower at 701 W. Sixth St.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Sixth and Guadalupe (pictured) is Austin\u2019s tallest tower for now, but the Waterline will surpass it upon completion in 2026.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

That long-term confidence continues to shape parts of the market, even as vacancy climbs. Leasing remains selective, with tenants targeting newer buildings and upgraded space. At 100 Congress, Carr Properties signed new leases after spec suite buildouts and common-area renovations in the 40-year-old downtown tower.<\/p>\n

Job growth adds further context. As of early 2025, Austin was one of just seven major U.S. metros to post year-over-year gains across all office-using sectors. Financial activities employment rose 0.78%, while professional and business services grew 0.76%. The information sector declined 0.69%, continuing a tech-led contraction seen in other major tech hubs.<\/p>\n

For more analysis on Austin and other major U.S. office markets, see the full CommercialCafe report<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Austin, Texas, continues to stand out among major U.S. office markets for both its elevated vacancy rate and the scale of its development pipeline. At the end of April, vacancy hit 28.9%, second only to San Francisco and up 650 basis points year-over-year \u2014 the sharpest rise among large metros, according to the latest CommercialCafe Office Report. The increase follows several years of heavy construction, much of it launched just as a national development slowdown was taking hold. At the time, Austin remained a magnet for new Class A product, supported by some of the highest office usage rates in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3163,"featured_media":851,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4556","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-office-reports"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAustin Office Vacancy Sees Sharpest Rise Among Major Markets, Hits 28.9%<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Austin\u2019s office vacancy rose to 28.9% in April 2025, the sharpest year-over-year jump among major U.S. markets.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/blog\/austin-office-vacancy-climbs\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Austin Office Vacancy Sees Sharpest Rise Among Major Markets, Hits 28.9%\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Austin\u2019s office vacancy rose to 28.9% in April 2025, the sharpest year-over-year jump among major U.S. markets.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/blog\/austin-office-vacancy-climbs\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"CommercialSearch\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-06-04T05:39:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-11-12T09:43:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2022\/04\/austin-skyline.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1300\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Matthew Preston\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Matthew Preston\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/blog\/austin-office-vacancy-climbs\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/blog\/austin-office-vacancy-climbs\/\",\"name\":\"Austin Office Vacancy Sees Sharpest Rise Among Major Markets, Hits 28.9%\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/blog\/austin-office-vacancy-climbs\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/blog\/austin-office-vacancy-climbs\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2022\/04\/austin-skyline.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-06-04T05:39:05+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-11-12T09:43:27+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/44a8a1fa2b4207afba1c2bb0ef1e2d80\"},\"description\":\"Austin\u2019s office vacancy rose to 28.9% in April 2025, the sharpest year-over-year jump among major U.S. markets.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/blog\/austin-office-vacancy-climbs\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/blog\/austin-office-vacancy-climbs\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/blog\/austin-office-vacancy-climbs\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2022\/04\/austin-skyline.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2022\/04\/austin-skyline.jpg\",\"width\":1300,\"height\":800},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/blog\/austin-office-vacancy-climbs\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Austin Office Vacancy Hits 28.9%; 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