An aging 12-story office tower in the heart of downtown Austin is quietly up for grabs, putting a prime redevelopment play just off East Seventh back in circulation. The 1970s-era building at 211 Seventh sits only steps from the Driskill and the Omni and is still owned by Highland Resources. Occupancy is sitting at roughly 61 percent, and many tenants are on short-term leases, a combination that is likely to catch the eye of buyers with conversion on their minds.
What Is on the Block and Who Is Pitching It
JLL Capital Markets is handling the sale of 211 Seventh on behalf of Highland Resources, with the marketing effort led by Jeff Coddington, Joe Dowdle, and Ryan Stevens. The offering keeps the asking price under wraps and lays out several potential strategies for a buyer, including repositioning the property, according to ConnectCRE.
What the Building Offers and Where It Sits
Commercial listings and property records show the tower spans roughly 160,410 to 162,000 square feet across 12 floors and was completed in the early 1970s. The site itself covers about 0.7 to 0.75 acres in a tight downtown footprint. Listings also point to roughly 320 parking spaces and a third-floor sublease that is currently available, per Cushman & Wakefield.
Keep It, Flip It or Turn It Into Beds
Local coverage has highlighted several possible plays for a buyer: hold the property as a traditional office building, convert it into apartments or condos, or rework it into a hotel. Those options are driven largely by the tower's proximity to existing hotels and the short-term nature of many of its leases, along with an estimated 61 percent occupancy rate, according to ConnectCRE.
Why Developers Are Likely Sniffing Around
With the building only about 61 percent full and many tenants on shorter deals, the property lines up neatly with what opportunistic buyers tend to look for in a downtown conversion or redevelopment candidate. Highland Resources still lists an Austin office contact at 211 Seventh, a reminder of the owner's longstanding ties to the asset even as it officially hits the market, per Highland Resources.
