Top 5 Office Projects Under Construction in Austin

Austin’s office construction activity continued its strong pace, ending July with approximately 4 million square of competitive space across 30 projects, Yardi Research Data shows. The square footage represents 3.6 percent of its existing stock—well above the national average of 0.9 percent and placing the metro as the leader among its peers.

Developers are adapting designs to post-pandemic office space trends and adding large projects in the Texas capital, one of them being the tallest building in the state. The following list comprises the metro’s five largest office developments, which total nearly 2.6 million square feet combined.

1. The Republic

Lincoln Property Co.’s The Republic was the largest office development in Austin as of July. Totaling 816,000 square feet, the tower is developed in partnership with Phoenix Property Co. and DivcoWest.

The trio broke ground in September 2022, with $324 million in construction funds from Bank OZK. The tower is scheduled to reach completion by the end of September. HKS serves as architect of record, Duda/Paine Architects as design architect, TBG as landscape architect and Michael Hsu as interior designer.

The high-rise is at 400 W. Fourth St. in the city’s downtown area. It features 27,500-square-foot floorplates and nearly 750 square feet of private terraces on every office floor, as well as 16,585 square feet of ground-floor retail space. The Republic’s amenity package, totaling 70,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor features, includes an outdoor plaza with bar, a lounge space and conference rooms, but also health and wellness facilities.

2. Waterline

The second-largest project underway is Waterline, a 2.7 million-square-foot mixed-use tower. Lincoln Property Co., with co-development partner Kairoi Residential, broke ground on the project in June 2022. Construction funds include a $742.5 million loan issued by Blackstone Group, set to mature in 2027, Yardi Research Data shows.

Project partners include HKS as architect of record, Kohn Pedersen Fox as designer architect, Michael Hsu as interior designer, TBG and Nudge Design as landscape architects, Studio Mai as interior designer for the hotel and residential component and DPR Construction tapped as general contractor.

Rising at 98 Red River St., Waterline topped out in August this year at 74 stories and 1,025 feet, becoming the tallest building in Texas. The development comprises 703,000 square feet of office space across 26 stories, alongside a 252-key hotel across 13 floors and 352 residential units across 33 floors. Completion is expected by the end of July next year.

3. Building AC03 at Apple’s Austin Campus

Next on our list is the 370,000-square-foot Building AC03, an office development at 6900 W. Parmer Lane, part of Apple’s Austin headquarters campus. Project construction began in June last year and completion is estimated for October.

Building AC03 is part of the second phase of Apple’s campus, a $1 billion, 33-acre development started in 2019. At the time, the project was designed to include 3 million square feet and accommodate 5,000 employees, with room to grow to 15,000.

The building was initially designed to measure 203,941 square feet, with an estimated cost of $210 million. It is part of the latest office addition at the site, expected to add 900,000 square feet of space.

4. 1501 Lavaca St.

The next project is a 360,000-square-foot office property at 1501 Lavaca St., part of Texas Facilities Commission’s larger development, dubbed the Texas Capitol Complex Master Plan. Construction on the property started in 2023, with completion scheduled for August 2027. The eight-story building is part of the project’s second phase, that also includes the 165,000-square-foot Building 2, at 1500 Congress Ave.

The Texas Capitol project is underway since 2016 and is the state agency office’s effort to consolidate all its operations and employees from former leased spaces. The first phase came online in 2022 and added 1 million square feet of office space across two buildings. Development partners include HOK as architect of records, JE Dunn Construction as construction manager and Square One Consultants as project manager.

5. TDEM Headquarters and SEOC

The last project on our list is the 318,898-square-foot office development of the Texas Division of Emergency Management, a facility designed to house the entire agency as well as its State Operations Center into a new headquarters. The owner of the project is the Board of Regents of the Texas A&M University System and the estimated costs of the project is $370 million.

Rising at 4125 State Farm Road 973, the six-story office building is just East of the city’s Bergstrom International Airport and will host 300 people. Construction started in April last year while delivery is scheduled for August next year.