Cielo, TIER REIT to Build 28-Story Austin Tower

Austin-based Cielo Property Group and TIER REIT Inc., a Dallas-based real estate investment trust, have partnered to build a 349,000-square-foot office tower in downtown Austin.

The property will feature a strong connection to the outdoors by designing multiple outdoor decks overlooking Shoal Creek, as well as several floors of flexible creative office space, which is unlike anything currently in the Austin market. Cielo and TIER REIT plan to start construction of the 28-story building in the southwest area of downtown at 208 Nueces Street, at the beginning of 2016 and anticipate completion by the end of 2017.

“We’ve seen first-hand the extremely high demand for office space in downtown Austin and even with all the new construction there isn’t much space available,” says Cielo founding principal Bobby Dillard. “This building will offer a premier location in what is quickly becoming the heart of downtown with amazing views and plenty of amenities onsite and within easy walking distance — including the Whole Foods world headquarters, the new Trader Joe’s at Seaholm and dozens of restaurants and bars.”

Designed by Gensler, the sleek glass tower is expected to feature 10 floors of traditional office space, as well as three floors with 28’ high ceilings that will allow inter-floor connectivity, loft-style work areas, and flexible creative office space unique to downtown Austin high-rises.

Scott Fordham, chief executive officer and president of TIER REIT, says that “Austin is one of our key target growth markets, and this rare development opportunity will expand our existing Austin portfolio that includes the Terrace Office Park, a four building complex with 620,000 square feet, located adjacent to the Barton Creek greenbelt.”

Plans for ground floor retail include restaurant space overlooking Shoal Creek and retail and/or restaurant space at the corner of Third Street and Nueces Street. The tower will offer an above market ratio of vehicle parking spaces, and Cielo plans to encourage tenants to bike to work with a 300 stall secured bike parking facility with oversized locker rooms inside the building.

“This building will offer unbelievable access by bike to Central Austin given our close proximity to the Roy and Ann Butler Hike and Bike Trail, Shoal Creek Trail, and Lance Armstrong Bikeway,” says Rob Gandy, also a founding principal of Cielo. “We want to do all we can to help people take advantage of that.”

The tower will reside on the 43,000-square-foot Austin Music Hall music venue location. Built in 2007, the facility faced financial challenges for several years before lenders repossessed it in 2012. Cielo purchased the building from Bank of the Ozarks last year, and carefully deliberated its future use.

Cielo will continue to own the Austin Music Hall brand and is actively searching for a smaller, higher quality music venue to open under the name.

More than $2 billion of development is already underway in the southwestern area of downtown, including high-end condominium and office towers at the former Green Water Treatment Plant next door, where Google Inc. leased 200,000 square feet of office space earlier this year.

“This project has an unbeatable location in the center of an unprecedented wave of downtown redevelopment within easy walking distance of some of the city’s most popular and well-known destinations,” says Troy Holme, senior vice president of brokerage services for CBRE. “So many businesses are looking for downtown office space — particularly creative office space — and this building will be extremely attractive to those owners and their employees.

In other TIER REIT news, the company recently revealed its plans to list its common stock on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “TIER” on or about July 23, 2015. The company also expanded its credit facility and named a new chairman of the board. To read more, click here.

TIER REIT Inc. is a self-managed, Dallas, Texas-based real estate investment trust that acquires, develops and operates a portfolio of office properties in select U.S. markets. The company owns a portfolio of 37 commercial office properties throughout the United States valued at approximately $1.9 billion, based on aggregate purchase price.