After quiet year, Austin’s downtown to add five towers in 2024

It was an uncertain year for Austin’s downtown.

For the first time in many years, no new towers started construction downtown, Towers reported. But there are still cranes all across the city, and many of Austin’s most ambitious developments are set to finish next year, the Austin American-Statesman reported. 

The largest tower set to open in 2024 is Sixth and Guadalupe. The project, developed by Kairoi and Lincoln Property Company, will have 66 stories of office and residential. At 875 feet, it will be the tallest building in Austin. 

The top 33 floors will have 349 apartments. The first residents are expected to move into their units in January or February. 

The same can’t be said for Sixth and Guad’s office components. Meta leased all of the tower’s 589,000-square-foot office footprint, but then backed out in November 2022. The tech giant plans to sublease that space.   

In a particularly Austin twist, the tower will feature a restaurant by Elon Musk’s brother, Kimbal. 

Down on Rainey Street, which has been the poster child for Austin’s latest development boom, a tower will open at 84 East Avenue. Vesper, developed by Pearlstone Partners and New York-based ATCO Properties, will climb 41 stories and include 284 condominiums. The project is expected to finish in the second quarter.

Symphony Square, set to open next year, is another project blending office and residential uses. The development’s apartment component, called the Waller, will have 388 rentals across 32 stories. Those will coexist with 170,000 square feet of office space and 4,000 square feet of retail. 

Others are sticking with pure residential plays. The Linden, developed by Reger Holdings and Armenia Group, is a 28-story high rise at 317 West Third Street. It is about 80 percent sold, with the first residents moving in next month. 

The remaining condos at the development range between “the low $700,000s” for a one-bedroom and $5.15 million for a two-story penthouse. 

Kevin Burns, a real estate agent specializing in downtown condos, said he was “quite optimistic” that sales would pick up in 2024, assuming interest rates fall and population and job growth continue. 

The shift toward residential uses downtown could signify a larger identity change at play. Several years on from the pandemic, office vacancy rates remain near record highs. It’s fitting, then, that every downtown tower set to open next year contains at least some residential units. 

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