Austin Office Buyer David Buttross Targets Startups, Nonprofits

A longtime Austin real estate player picked up a 180,000-square-foot office complex on Texas Loop 360, aiming to make it a haven for startups and nonprofits.

David Buttross, a former Austin mayoral candidate, acquired Lakewood on Park for an undisclosed price on Dec. 16, the Austin Business Journal reported. The three-building property includes two office buildings and a standalone garage at 7600 North Capital of Texas Highway. The complex is about 50 percent leased.

Buttross plans to offer flexible lease terms to small businesses and nonprofits — for startups, he proposed trading rent for equity to help them grow.

“We will bend over backwards,” for such tenants, he told the outlet.

The complex features offices ranging from 650 to 27,500 square feet. One building offers 33,000 square feet of available space, while the other has 53,500 square feet vacant.

Buttross wants Lakewood on the Park to serve as an incubator for growing companies, allowing tenants to start small and expand naturally within the property, he said. The space is designed to accommodate businesses that might need just 1,000 to 2,000 square feet of space, without in-office reception areas or conference rooms, but could grow into larger offices over time.

The seller was not disclosed, and its identity is hidden behind a property trust.

Buttross will handle leasing directly, he said, a duty previously handled by JLL, prioritizing the needs of shorter-term tenants over more broker-friendly lease terms, he said.

He is among the Austin office landlords that have been making moves to attract technology and creative firms.

Fenway Capital Advisors’ speculative improvements at Eastbound, a 233,500-square-foot office complex, for example, paid off with a recent 20,000-square-foot lease from furniture wholesaler Four Hands.

Earlier this month, PayPal expanded its lease by more than 90,000 square feet in Domain Tower 2, at 10025 Alterra Parkway, in North Austin, increasing its footprint to about 18 percent of the building in 2022 to nearly half of its rentable space. Wise PLC, a London-based financial services firm, also secured space in the tower, inking a deal for 60,700 square feet as growth in the fintech sector has given Austin’s office market a boost at the year’s end.

Still, it’s been a tough year for the Texas capital’s office landlords — the vacancy rate hit a record high of 25.2 percent in July due to low demand and an excess of available space. While total absorption surpassed 300,000 square feet in the third quarter for the first time since the fourth quarter 2022, deliveries still outpaced demand and the vacancy rate rose 0.2 percent quarter-over-quarter, according to JLL.

—Judah Duke