The Republic scores 165k sf of leases to law firms amid downtown Austin’s high vacancy

One of Austin’s most high-profile office developments notched two new tenants. 

The Republic, an 816,000-square-foot tower at the heart of downtown, signed leases with law firms Kirkland & Ellis and O’Melveny and Myers worth 165,000 square feet. Together with Vista Equity Partners’ 200,000-square-foot space in the tower, the Republic is nearly 50 percent leased. 

Lincoln Property Company, Phoenix Property Company and DivcoWest are co-developers on the 48-story tower. The project broke ground in 2022 and is scheduled to open in mid-2025. Duda Paine designed the building. It is also the architect behind 405 Colorado, one of the most striking towers built recently in downtown Austin. Michael Hsu Office of Architecture designed the amenities at the Republic.

Kirkland & Ellis has leased space in Frost Bank Tower, once Austin’s alpha office building, since 2021. That same year, O’Melveny opened its first Texas office, located at Cousins Properties’ 303 Colorado Street. O’Melveny was founded in Los Angeles. 

The Republic is finding tenants at a time when several other new office buildings in Austin are struggling to fill up. Like other office developments opening since the pandemic, the Republic is leaning heavily on amenities to lure tenants. Each floor at the building has its own 750-square-foot balcony, and the 19th floor will have a 50,000-square-foot indoor-outdoor space with places to drink, work and exercise. The property also fronts a full block of Republic Square, a public park at the center of downtown. 

Austin has added millions of square feet of Class A space in recent years, which has increased competition and a supply glut. Meanwhile, the city’s top office tenants have come from technology companies, but some of the sector’s top players have cut back on their office footprints.

Lincoln also co-developed the property across the park, Sixth and Guadalupe. That project is the tallest tower in Austin, with similarly robust amenities, but Meta backed out of its 589,000 square foot lease there in 2022 and has yet to backfill the space. 

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