Swiss Investor Pays Big Bucks for Prime Downtown Austin Building

By Anca Gagiuc, Associate Editor

501 Congress

AFIAA Foundation, an investment entity of 40 Swiss pension funds that focus on international commercial properties, landed in downtown Austin. The firm acquired the 501 Congress Ave. building, expanding its portfolio in the United States.

The 11,400-square foot property, along with a new adjoining parking garage, sold for $79.1 million. At the time of the sale, the office building was 76.3 percent leased to multiple tenants, including Dropbox, Charles Schwab, Vine Vault, Allen Edmonds, and EMC²Corp.

501 Congress was built in 1963, but in time was fully refurbished into a Class A office building, featuring five upper floors and an atrium core. Stream Realty Partners transformed it into a contemporary building with retail spaces on the first floor, as well as 297 parking spaces available within the complex.

AFIAA has offices in Zurich, New York and Sydney, and 31 commercial properties in North America, Australia, and Europe in cities including Chicago, Sydney, London, Paris, Vienna, and Berlin.

Image courtesy of Michael Hsu Office of Architecture