Two of the most active real estate players on the West Coast are teaming up on a new Downtown Austin skyscraper.
Lincoln Property Company and its equity partner DivcoWest announced that they have signed a deal with an anchor tenant that will allow them to build a 48-story, 833,000-square-foot highrise off Fourth and Guadalupe streets. Construction on the tower, dubbed The Republic, will begin later this quarter. Lincoln’s co-developer on the project is Phoenix Property Company, co-founded by Blake Pogue and Jason Runnels.
Austin’s economy has been among the quickest in the U.S. to recover from the pandemic, which has helped stir up demand for office space. Average asking rates are now more than $53 per square foot, according to CBRE.
Floor plates will average 29,000 square feet, and each floor will have a private outdoor terrace. Design plans call for a 20,000-square-foot public plaza, and restaurant and retail space.
“The building represents Austin’s spirit and dynamic lifestyle – and we believe The Republic will be a modern hub for top talent,” Lincoln Property’s Seth Johnston said in a statement.
Harvey-Cleary is the general contractor, and architecture firms HKS and Duda Paine Architects — the firm that designed the iconic Frost Bank Tower in Austin — are signed on to the project as architect of record and design architect, respectively.
The tower marks DivcoWest’s 11th investment in the Austin market, according to an announcement. In February, the firm struck a deal to buy a building in New York’s Hudson Square for over $150 million, as The Real Deal reported.
Lincoln and Phoenix bought the site’s ground lease in July 2017 in a deal worth $430 million, Austin Business Journal reported. Prior to that, Travis County purchased the land for $21.8 million with plans to build a courthouse, which voters denied.
Lincoln is also developing the 66-story Sixth and Guadalupe tower with Kairoi Residential and DivcoWest. Facebook parent company Meta Platforms leased half of the tower in December.