Another major piece of downtown Austin real estate just slid onto the sales block. KBS Realty has quietly put 515 North Congress Avenue, the 26-story tower at the corner of Congress and Sixth Street, on the market, adding one more high-profile address to the growing list of office buildings whose owners are looking for the exit as leasing stays soft. How this one trades, and who ends up in the building, will ripple through downtown leasing and Sixth Street retail for months.
As first reported by The Real Deal, the tower totals roughly 267,956 rentable square feet and was about 82 percent leased when it hit the market. JLL Capital Markets has been tapped to steer the sale, and KBS has not floated a target price. According to the outlet, tenants in the building include WebAI, The Boeing Company and the Austin Business Journal.
Who Is Marketing The Deal And KBS’s Track Record
Investor materials from KBS show the firm bought the tower for roughly $112.5 million in August 2015, then went to work on lobby and amenity upgrades. The building’s official leasing page pegs the rentable square footage at about 267,956 and touts a tenant lounge, fitness center and 10th-floor patio. Stream Realty handles leasing via its site, a setup that helps the property compete for tenants that want a polished, full-service downtown address. Those kinds of extras are a big reason institutional buyers still chase core downtown buildings that can command higher effective rents.
Where This Fits In Austin’s Office Market
Recent research helps explain why owners are reshuffling and, in some cases, cashing out. CBRE’s Q1 2026 office figures highlight a clear flight-to-quality trend, with leasing picking up in prime micro-markets even as availability stays elevated elsewhere. Big landlords are already tweaking their portfolios: filings from Cousins Properties outline plans around One Eleven Congress, underscoring that institutional owners are weighing potential dispositions as they rebalance what they hold.
The eventual sale price for 515 North Congress will double as a reality check on downtown values. Do buyers still pay up for upgraded, street-front product, or does this deal fall in line with the discounts that have crept into more secondary offices? JLL’s marketing team on the listing includes Drew Fuller, Mike McDonald, Jonathan Napper and Ryan Stevens, according to The Real Deal. However it shakes out, this will be one of the key trades to watch for clues on downtown Austin’s rebound or the next wave of office conversions.
