With the pandemic in full swing throughout 2020, the Austin office market didn’t see as many large leases as in years past. But there were still a handful of notable office leases completed.
In this article, we highlight the five largest new office leases signed in 2020.
5. Centene
Size: 57,539 SF
Building: Paloma Ridge C
Submarket: Northwest
Industry: Healthcare
Photo courtesy of CoStar.
Centene, a multi-national health-tech company, signed a lease for the top floor of Paloma Ridge C in 4Q 2020. The company will be moving out of a similarly sized space at Research Park Place in Northwest Austin, and also occupies roughly 200,000 square feet in Southeast Austin.
Paloma Ridge C was delivered earlier this year and was roughly 50% pre-leased to tenants including Hewlett Packard and LPL Financial. The building is now 83% leased counting Centene.
Paloma Ridge is a three-building, 376,324-square-foot office development by Stream Realty Partners, located along FM 620 just east of US-183.
4. DLA Piper
Size: 74,000 SF
Building: Colorado Tower
Submarket: CBD
Industry: Legal Services
Photo courtesy of CoStar.
Following construction delays at 405 Colorado, DLA Piper opted to exit its pre-lease at the project and, instead, signed a lease for roughly 74,000 square feet at Colorado Tower in 2Q 2020.
DLA Piper will be moving into space being vacated by Parsley Energy, who, in turn, is expected to move into a newly constructed space at 300 Colorado upon delivery in 2021.
405 Colorado will now deliver roughly 5% pre-leased to AllianceBernstein.
DLA Piper is an international law firm with offices in over 40 countries. The firm currently has 86 Austin employees.
3. Auctane LLC (Shipstation)
Size: 105,385 SF
Building: The Grove
Submarket: Central
Industry: Technology
Photo courtesy of CoStar.
Auctane LLC, the parent company of ShipStation, a web-based shipping software company, signed a new lease for 105,385 square feet at The Grove in 3Q 2020. Auctane will employ roughly 650 employees within the space.
Our business has grown quickly, and so has our team. We needed a centrally located space where we could bring everyone together, with easy access to retail, parking and greenspace.”
– Bryan Jones, Chief Operating Officer, Auctane
The Grove, a mixed-use development located in Central Austin near 45th Street and Mopac, will eventually include 140,000 square feet of retail space, 180,939 square feet of office space, 1,098 multifamily units, 500 townhomes and condos, and 20 acres of green space.
Auctane will be occupying the majority of office building one. Building two is still 100% available for lease.
2. Atlassian
Size: 157,540 SF
Building: Centro South
Submarket: East
Industry: Technology
Photo courtesy of CoStar.
Atlassian signed a new lease in 1Q 2020 for 157,540 square feet at Centro South, a new development underway in East Austin. Atlassian is set to move into the building in May of 2021 once the building is complete. Atlassian has an existing presence of roughly 75,000 square feet in the CBD at 303 Colorado, which is currently on the market for lease.
Best known for its workplace applications, Jira and Confluence, Atlassian is a public software company that specializes in making products for software development, project management, and content management. The company currently employs over 4,000 people and serves over 150,000 customers globally.
Centro is a two-building, 333,000-square-foot office project being developed by Riverside Resources. The South building is currently under construction and is 96% pre-leased to Atlassian, while the North building is currently 0% pre-leased and is on hold.
Read Next: 3 New Office Buildings Delivering in East Austin in 2021
1. BAE Systems
Size: 390,000 SF
Building: Parmer Austin
Submarket: Northeast
Industry: Aerospace and defense technology
Photo courtesy of Karlin Real Estate.
BAE Systems, an aerospace and defense tech company, signed a new lease for its latest expansion in Austin.
The 390,000-square-foot lease at Parmer Austin is the future home of BAE’s Austin campus and was the largest office lease completed in 2020. Roughly half of the space will be used for manufacturing, with the rest serving as office space. This expansion is expected to bring 700 jobs to Austin and will be completed in 2022.
This expansion will continue our longstanding legacy of innovation in Austin, while also preparing us for our projected engineering and manufacturing growth. Austin is an ideal location to attract the talent we need to deliver the latest capabilities to our customers.”
– Dave Harrold, Vice President and General Manager of Countermeasure and Electromagnetic Attack Solutions, BAE Systems
Parmer Austin is located along Parmer Lane just east of IH-35 in northeast Austin. Karlin Real Estate owns the property, and Trammell Crow is acting as the project’s master developer. Other tenants at the project include 3M, Apple, and The Home Depot.
Conclusion
While leasing activity in 2020 was slower than it was in 2018 and 2019 due to COVID-19, it’s good to see that big tenants are still signing major leases in the Austin market.
With several large blocks of space now on the market, it will be interesting to see which companies make this list in 2021.
