Austin | 6G | 874 Feet | 65 Floors | Complete

[futuresooner]

It's so dang bulky from most angles which I think plays a huge part in how it does not look as tall as it really is. Even when I saw it driving from ABIA to SAT last weekend, it just seems skewed off.

[Urbannizer]

Sixth and Guadalupe Mixed-Use Tower Tops Out as the Tallest Tower in Austin

https://www.nbc11news.com/prnewswire...outputType=amp

[austlar1]

It's just plain ugly. If tall is your thing, OK maybe. Otherwise, it is pretty awful.

[Echostatic]

That says this has a height of 865'.

[papertowelroll]

I don't think it's bad looking, but it is a massive building, especially compared to the Independent and Austonian which are pretty skinny.

It reminds me of some of the hotels in Vegas. You see it and it looks like a normal sized hotel across the street. Then you try walking to it and you realize that it's much larger and further away than you thought.

[zx14]

Somebody needs to measure the height accurately somehow. Any way call it an optical illusion but this looks no more than 800 feet tops. Maybe the original 841 is correct after all.

[The ATX]

We have the approved and released elevations which have it 874' from the SW corner. The block is sloped, so 865' could be from another point on the block.

[WestAustinite]

Meta is pulling out and will sublease the space in 6X Guad instead of occupying it. Ouch.

[bobbywest87]

Originally Posted by WestAustinite

Meta is pulling out and will sublease the space in 6X Guad instead of occupying it. Ouch.

Damn, so it has begun. I wonder what this means for The Republic tower and some of the others that were planned.

[Echostatic]

This one in particular feels like more of a Meta problem than an Austin problem.

[papertowelroll]

There was a rumor about Google doing the same. You can see what the arena tower people are thinking. Tech stocks in the gutter + employees not wanting to return to office probably means a big drop in commercial rents in Austin.

[austlar1]

Here's more info on Meta pullout from this tower. This is pretty disturbing news no matter how you spin it.https://therealdeal.com/texas/2022/1...-sf-in-austin/

[Atom_Mirny]

The Republic is competing with all that space over at Springdale Green too.

Really don't want to see that project halted but hard to see Perennial or Block 16 starting in this environment. Stadium Tower likely won't be the only delayed project around The Domain either.

[clubtokyo]

Google and Meta are not connected. Google is doing much better financially. Meta on the other hand is just not metaversing. I think the republic will be fine, but yeah things will probably slow down, but I don’t see it as the end of Austin’s boom, more of a pause. Imo.

[Riverranchdrone]

Originally Posted by papertowelroll

There was a rumor about Google doing the same. You can see what the arena tower people are thinking. Tech stocks in the gutter + employees not wanting to return to office probably means a big drop in commercial rents in Austin.

Businesses are going full steam on bringing their people back into the work place. The days of not working in the office are gone. Tesla employees found out the hard way when they thought Musk was bluffing.

[papertowelroll]

Originally Posted by clubtokyo

Google and Meta are not connected. Google is doing much better financially. Meta on the other hand is just not metaversing. I think the republic will be fine, but yeah things will probably slow down, but I don’t see it as the end of Austin’s boom, more of a pause. Imo.

Meta and Google have the same dynamic in this respect: they heavily overcommitted to office space in Austin in anticipation of future growth. Between financial issues (slowed hiring), Austin cooling as a market for tech talent, and many employees not wanting to return to office, that future growth is not materializing

I tend to think that Google subleasing some of its space is an inevitability, because the only alternative is having empty downtown skyscrapers.

For Austin as a whole, I think there is plenty of demand remaining for residential, but I do think there will be a significant pause in terms of office space. Frankly until we get project connect online that's probably a good thing anyway.

Originally Posted by Riverranchdrone

Businesses are going full steam on bringing their people back into the work place. The days of not working in the office are gone. Tesla employees found out the hard way when they thought Musk was bluffing.

Google and Tesla have very different company cultures. I don't see Google forcing its employees back into the office. Particularly in Austin where many people are effectively remote even if they work from office (because the rest of their team is in other geographies).

[We vs us]

My wife works as a contractor for Google, and they are having a devil of a time getting people back to the office. The amount of employee pushback has been massive, and frankly surprised everyone.

[urbancore]

As an eternal optimist who has seen Austin come through three major downturns since '83.....through my rose colored glasses.....

1) I can see Musk swooping in to sub-lease this building at a lower rate than Meta's lease, to move Twitter in. The rent, I imagine, would be much less than the Twitter's rent in SF, or if they own the building in SF, rent/sell it.

2) The building still has a ways to go to finish up, it is entirely possible that we will see the light at the end of this tunnel by the time it receives it's CO, Meta could always change their minds and choose to occupy it.

3) The Austonian started in 2009 (if memory serves) the beginning of the GR, and I argued with many that by it's completion years later, the developer would do quite well. I can foresee the same happening with several buildings under construction now, including 6X.

[GoldenBoot]

Originally Posted by papertowelroll

There was a rumor about Google doing the same. You can see what the arena tower people are thinking. Tech stocks in the gutter + employees not wanting to return to office probably means a big drop in commercial rents in Austin.

Rents will normalize. I do not currently see a "big drop."

The Arena Tower was mostly a spec deal - thus, its development was placed on hold. However, massive amounts of space (like Meta & Google), will have to be subleased. Both companies, in this case, owe the full rental amount to their respective landlord. Even if they end up subleasing the space at a discount, the overall rental rate will not change. Rates on unleaded space will probably decrease a bit until we see the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel on the forthcoming world-wide recession. The U.S. is already in one.

Bottomline - this is not an Austin-centric problem. It's a world-wide economic thing. Austin still remains in high demand both domestically and internationally.

[papertowelroll]

Originally Posted by GoldenBoot

Rents will normalize. I do not currently see a "big drop."

The Arena Tower was mostly a spec deal - thus, its development was placed on hold. However, massive amounts of space (like Meta & Google), will have to be subleased. Both companies, in this case, owe the full rental amount to their respective landlord. Even if they end up subleasing the space at a discount, the overall rental rate will not change. Rates on unleaded space will probably decrease a bit until we see the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel on the forthcoming world-wide recession. The U.S. is already in one.

Bottomline - this is not an Austin-centric problem. It's a world-wide economic thing. Austin still remains in high demand both domestically and internationally.

Well yeah, of course. I never implied that Austin is particularly downtrodden. Office real estate slowing down after the proliferation of remote work was an obvious outcome that was pretty much unanimously predicted. The extent that Austin seemed to be bucking this trend is what was shocking, and we're seeing that come down to earth.

As far as rents dropping, large buildings like these getting subleased will definitely lower the market rate of rent... Obviously owners of these buildings that already signed long contracts will probably still get paid, but new developments (e.g Arena tower) may see that economics don't line up as well as they did a year or two ago.