How This Savvy Creative Office Lured Tenants

Lavaca Plaza wrapped up a multi-million dollar renovation, making it one of the most creative offices in Downtown Austin. (We haven't seen an office this committed to creativity since the Wonka Factory.) It paid off almost immediately—the building has leaped from 50% to 100% leased.

ECR’s Matt Levin and Jason Steinberg (here in the updated sky lounge atrium, a new focal point in the building) handled leasing for the 120k SF building, including signing two tenants this month to make it fully occupied. Brickman purchased the building at 504 Lavaca in December 2012, its first Texas buy—VP Aaron Lazovik tells us his firm targets gateway markets, but it saw similar demographic trends in Austin and made the jump. (He’s planning to buy more assets here, but it’s a hugely competitive market.)

Aaron fell in love with Lavaca Plaza right away, especially its high parking density—4:1,000, an amazing ratio for Downtown. (That’ll only become more important as surface lots are redeveloped and as floor plates get denser.) But Aaron says the ‘80s-era property was tired and in need of new vision and cosmetic upgrade. Brickman and ECR—with TIG and STG Design—spearheaded the renovation to attract tech, advertising, media, and IT users—putting in bike racks, new workout facility with showers, and The Hideout coffee room.

Jason tells us Lavaca Plaza was 80% leased at the time of sale, but a 35k SF tenant moved to the ‘burbs shortly thereafter, dropping it to 50%. Now it’s 100% leased, including pre-leasing space that won’t be available for months, and the team has been able to push rents a lot. Jason and Matt just signed Outbound Engine (12k SF) and Silicon Valley Bank (8,000 SF). Other creative office users are WP Engine, Juniper Network, and Paymetric. (This is California-based Juniper’s first Austin location, and Lavaca Plaza was its first choice.)