Austin’s office market has shown signs of recovery since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and a number of large leases this year are evidence of that. While the first half of the year was slow, the second half saw more activity.
Read Next: 2021 Recap: 5 Largest Industrial Leases Signed in Austin
In this article, we highlight the six largest office leases signed in 2021.
6 Largest Office Leases in Austin, Texas
6. Alert Media
Size: 68,354 SF
Building: RiverSouth
Submarket: South
Industry: Information Technology Services
Photo courtesy of CoStar.
Alert Media, a leading emergency communications provider, signed a lease at RiverSouth, which was developed by Stream Realty Partners. The building is located on South First Street. Alert Media is no stranger to the Austin market, as it currently occupies a smaller office elsewhere in the city.
RiverSouth is a Class A office building that will offer over 350,000 square feet of office space. The typical floor plate will be 37,000 square feet. RiverSouth is expected to deliver in early 2022.
5. Miro
Size: 72,530 SF
Building: Colorado Tower
Submarket: CBD
Industry: Software
Photo courtesy of CoStar.
This San Francisco-based software company ate up a considerable amount of space at Colorado Tower in October 2021. This lease will become its largest office in the United States. Miro will occupy floors 17, 18, and 19 with access to a private outdoor deck on the 16th floor.
Miro is an online collaborative whiteboard platform with over 25 million users. The company currently has 165 employees in Austin as well as 41 job openings, according to a company spokesperson.
4. Skyworks
Size: 96,467 SF
Building: Eastlake at Tillery
Submarket: East
Industry: Semiconductors
Skyworks, a company that designs and manufactures semiconductors for communication systems, signed a lease for 96,467 square feet in the newly-constructed Eastlake at Tillery Building 2 in 3Q 2021. The Austin office will be home to the company’s combined signal solutions business for infrastructure and automotive. The company has approximately 124 employees in Austin according to its LinkedIn page.
The lease comes after Skyworks purchased a division of Austin-based Silicon Labs in July 2021.
Eastlake at Tillery, a two-building, 172,000-square-foot project developed by Cypress Real Estate Advisors, delivered in 2Q 2021. AQUILA Commercial handles leasing for the project.
3. Peak6
Size: 114,417 SF
Building: East6
Submarket: East
Industry: Financial Services
Peak6, a fintech firm based in Chicago, took GoDaddy’s sublease at East6 in 3Q 2021. AQUILA Commercial and CBRE represented GoDaddy and Stream Realty Partners represented Peak6.
East6 delivered in 2019 and is located in trendy East Austin. Cuvee Coffee Bar, Counter Cafe, and Flyrite Chicken Sandwiches are all within walking distance.
2. Cloudflare
Size: 125,000 SF
Building: Foundry II
Submarket: East
Industry: Internet
Photo courtesy of CoStar.
Cloudflare, a California-based company, sits at the top of this year’s largest office leases in Austin with its 125,000-square-foot lease at Foundry II in 3Q 2021. The building was developed by Cielo Property Group and delivered this summer.
New York-based Tishman Speyer purchased the building shortly after its delivery, along with Foundry I. Cloudflare had 176 job postings at the time of its lease commencement.
1. Teacher Retirement System of Texas
Size: 247,000 SF
Building: Mueller Business District – Bravo
Submarket: Mueller
Industry: Government
The Teacher Retirement System of Texas (TRS) acquired the 210,000-square-foot newly constructed Alpha building near the end of 2021 and committed to 247,000 square feet in Bravo once construction is completed in 2023.
TRS plans to occupy floors three, four, five, and six in the Alpha building, leaving roughly 48,000 square feet available for lease. TRS will begin moving into the building in the spring of 2023 and will move the remainder of its staff into the Bravo building once construction is complete.
Bonus: Amazon
Size: 330,000 SF
Building: Domain 9
Submarket: Domain
Industry: E-Commerce
Photo courtesy of CoStar.
Right before we were about to hit publish on this article, Amazon announced on December 21st that it had pre-leased all 330,000 square feet of Domain 9. The company plans to create 2,000 new jobs as a part of this lease. The building broke ground earlier this year and Amazon plans to begin occupying the space in 2024.
Amazon is not a newcomer to the Domain market, currently occupying a significant amount of space in Domain 8, Domain 10, and Domain 2.
Cousins Properties is leading the development of Domain 9. Cousins owns 2.5 million square feet of space in the Domain, which is 99.7% leased.
Conclusion
The Austin office market is definitely picking up steam following the effects of COVID-19, especially when it comes to properties in and around the CBD and Eastside submarkets. With a number of projects expected to deliver in those submarkets and elsewhere in 2022, it will be interesting to see how new space continues to be absorbed.
