The Challenge
LatinWorks, an Austin-based advertising and marketing firm, was considering relocating their downtown headquarters outside of the CBD in order to reduce the costs of both rent and parking. However, they were faced with four key challenges:
1. Maintaining Culture
LatinWorks loved the benefits of their CBD location: walkable amenities, strong recruiting and proximity to downtown clients.
2. Establishing Brand
At just over 50,000 sf, LatinWorks wanted to be the primary tenant in their new building in order to establish the building as “The LatinWorks Building.” This limited their options in Central Austin to smaller office projects.
3. Having Room to Grow
The firm needed the flexibility to allow for future growth within the new space.
The Solution
After an extensive site search, AQUILA introduced LatinWorks to the Rollingwood Plaza project, a planned, three building Class-A development just minutes from the CBD. The development featured direct access to the Greenbelt and great downtown views, both of which lent to the “cool factor” that was crucial for LatinWorks’ recruiting and prevented the project from feeling like a suburban complex.
The 67,000-sf size of Rollingwood Plaza, Building II presented LatinWorks with the opportunity to be the primary tenant and allowed AQUILA to obtain building signage for them during lease negotiations.
After finding a space that fit both LatinWorks’ location and size requirements, we then faced the challenge of obtaining maximum flexibility in the lease. AQUILA eventually negotiated options for both growth and downsizing, including the ability to take the entire building or reduce its square footage by up to 15 percent.
The LatinWorks lease was the key lease secured in order to kick off the construction of Rollingwood Plaza, Buildings I & II.
The Results
The relocation allowed LatinWorks to achieve their overall budgeting goals; despite the space being a brand-new, Class-A development, the final lease saved the firm approximately $8/SF compared to a comparable downtown lease.
With this new lease, LatinWorks more than doubled its Austin presence, expanding from their previous 25,000 sf to an eventual 52,000+ sf. While the firm initially subleased a portion of the space, they intend to continue to grow throughout the time span of their lease.
In addition, there are expansion options in the lease that will allow LatinWorks to grow beyond the current size of their lease. This steady growth over time will directly correspond with a steady creation of jobs in Austin for an extended amount of time.
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