500 W. 2nd Street Tops Out; Three Additional Tenants Sign Leases

Trammell Crow Company (TCC) and joint venture partner, Principal Real Estate Investors, announce that 500 W. 2nd Street has topped out construction and the addition of three additional tenants to the building’s roster. Professional services firm Deloitte, King & Spalding, an international law firm, and CBRE Group, Inc., the world’s largest commercial real estate services and investment firm, have signed long-term leases at the building. The Class AA, speculative, 29-story office tower features 500,436 square feet, which includes 11,000 square feet of street-level restaurant/retail space. The building is approximately 60 percent leased and is scheduled to complete in February 2017.

“After nearly two years of construction, the ‘topping out’ of the tower marks an important milestone in the transformation of downtown Austin as well as the ongoing redevelopment of the former Green Water Treatment Plant (GWTP),” said Adam Nims, Principal of TCC’s Austin Business Unit. “Our diverse tenant roster continues to grow with well-known and distinguished global corporations who are leaders within their respective industries.”

King & Spalding has signed a 22,404-square-foot lease to occupy a portion of the 18th floor. Since 2008, the Austin office has provided legal services primarily in the areas of energy and natural resources and litigation. The firm will relocate from Frost Bank Tower at 401 Congress Avenue.

“The new larger modern office will be a great reflection of the energy and work in the Austin office,” said Mike Stenglein, office managing partner of King & Spalding’s Austin office. “We are excited to move into a dynamic new part of Austin that will foster even greater opportunity for collaboration with our clients in the area and around the country.”

In addition, CBRE’s Austin office will occupy 21,688 square feet on a portion of the 17th floor. The firm will relocate approximately 100 employees from 100 Congress in downtown Austin. The new office is part of CBRE’s global “Workplace360” initiative, the company’s leading-edge approach to workplace strategy designed to promote flexibility, mobility and productivity through technology-enabled, 100 percent-free address and paperless offices.

“CBRE is committed to being the leader in emerging workplace strategies,” said Scott Senese, Senior Managing Director for CBRE’s Central Texas region. “With state-of-the-art technology, and an increased emphasis on internal collaboration and flexibility, our new Workplace360 office at 500 West 2nd will provide an environment that enables our professionals to serve our clients better than ever before.”

500 W. 2nd Street is located in the heart of the 2nd Street corridor and adjacent to restaurants, retail, entertainment and live music venues, residences and outdoor amenities including the Ann and Roy Butler Hike and Bike Trail and Lady Bird Lake. Floor plates in the office tower will be among the largest in downtown Austin averaging approximately 32,500 square feet. Seven outdoor terraces on six different levels throughout the building offer tenants unique amenity spaces with unparalleled views of Lady Bird Lake, the Hill Country and downtown. The development team is seeking LEED® Gold certification and an Austin Energy Green Building 2-Star rating offering lower operating costs and increased employee wellness and productivity.

Bounded by San Antonio Street, Nueces Street and 2nd Street, 500 W. 2nd is the second of four phases of a master planned project for the redevelopment of the former Thomas Green Water Treatment Plant. Once completed, the entire master planned project will be comprised of more than 1.8 million square feet of mixed-use commercial development.

Keith Zimmerman and Lexis Livengood with Oxford Commercial, an affiliate of DTZ, represented Deloitte. Tim Relyea, Ford Alexander and Holliday Hinckley with Cushman & Wakefield represented King & Spalding and CBRE’s Russell Young and Nate Stricklen represented CBRE in the transaction. CBRE’s Troy Holme, Casey Ford and Katie Ekstrom represented the landlord.