Kalantari to Build Spec Office Campus in Southwest Austin

A beleaguered office sector isn’t stopping Kalantari Group from embarking on a large development in Southwest Austin.

Amir Kalantari’s firm plans to build a 45,000-square-foot office campus near the intersection of State Highway 71 and U.S. Route 290, with the goal of landing a single tenant in the tech realm, the Austin Business Journal reported.

“How we envision it is for a medium- to small-sized tech company that wants a downtown alternative and values a kind of campus atmosphere,” Kalantari told the outlet.

The project, dubbed the Bee Caves Complex, will rise four stories on a roughly 6-acre site at 6804 Old Bee Caves Road. The top three floors will comprise office space, while the ground-floor will be used for parking, in addition to some underground parking. Construction is expected to begin by the end of next year.

While office struggles are apparent throughout Austin, the southwest part of the city is faring better than downtown. The office vacancy rate was at 20 percent in the Central Business District in the third quarter, compared to 17 percent in the southwest submarket, the outlet reported, citing data from Partners Real Estate. In addition, office rents in Southwest Austin are more affordable, averaging $38 per square foot, as opposed to downtown’s $59 per square foot.

The Kalantari Group, co-founded in 2004, focuses on a variety of asset classes in the Austin area, including multifamily, retail and office developments. The company is currently looking into multifamily developments on Burnet Road in North Austin, with expectations for these projects to materialize within the next 12 to 18 months.

—Quinn Donoghue