General Motors Picks Up Austin Office Building

General Motors is adding to its Austin footprint with the purchase of a 302,604-square-foot office building located just down the street from their Austin IT Innovation Center in North Austin. Los Angeles-based Karlin Real Estate announced that it sold the property at 13201 McCallen Pass for an undisclosed sum with representation from CBRE Group Inc., noting in a release that GM (which was represented by JLL in the deal) acquired the building to complement its existing center, which opened in 2012.

According to a KXAN report, the facility is located within Sector 6, the first phase of the 400-acre master planned technology and office park being developed by Los Angeles-based Karlin and Dallas-based Trammell Crow Company. Sector 6 was previously occupied by Dell Inc. A year ago, Karlin announced its partnership with Trammell Crow to develop the rest of the land as Parmer, a mixed-use, master-planned commercial and residential community that would be built over multiple years.

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Mexic-Arte Museum Seeks $10M in City Funding for New Building

Mexic-Arte Museum, the official Mexican and Mexican American Fine Art Museum of Texas, is seeking $10 million in bond funds from the city of Austin to build a $30 million iconic structure downtown. The museum has proposed a 54,000 square foot, six story cylindrical shaped building, half of which would be leased as commercial office space to generate income, reported the Austin Business Journal.

"We could build a plain box, but we have the chance to build an iconic structure that will drive tourism and be a landmark for the city," said John Hogg, president of the museum board. Hogg said that the museum has already spent $40,000 on conceptual architectural plans, committing to using Mexican architect Fernando Romero alongside Austin-based architect Juan Cotera as the architect of record.

The museum currently occupies a three-story building on the southeast corner of Congress Avenue and Fifth Street. Established in 1984, Mexic-Arte Museum has already secured $5 million in city money from a 2006 voter-approved bond package according to a Stateman article. The city of Austin also gave $740,000 to Mexic-Arte in 2000 so that it could purchase its building at 419 Congress Ave., which has been altered numerous times since. In 2003, the museum secured $200,000 in federal funds to start a long-term art loan program with Mexico. And last year it netted $500,000 from the U.S. Department of Commerce to finance another building feasibility study.

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Divco West Picks Up Austin Office Complex for $53M

Divco West Group LLC, a real estate investment company based in San Francisco, announced this week that it had acquired Prominent Pointe I and II in Northwest Austin for $53 million. According to an Austin Business Journal article, Divco West secured the purchase with $33 million in financing secured through Texas Realty Capital in Austin's partner lender, Sun Life Assurance Co. of Canada. Austin-based Aquila Commercial arranged the transaction on behalf of the seller, Aspen Properties.

"We've had good success investing in the Austin market over the years, and as an owner/operator with a strong reputation among technology tenants, Austin — arguably one of the premier tech-oriented markets in the country — is one of our natural targets for investment," said Stuart Shiff, CEO of Divco West.

The two-building Class A office project in Austin totals 261,243 square feet between the two buildings at 8310 N. Capital of Texas Highway. The buildings were reportedly 91% leased at the time of sale, with 46 total tenants including Sony Online Entertainment LLC. Prominent Pointe I was remodeled in 2007 and Prominent Pointe II was constructed in 2008 to accompany it.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Cedar Bend Professional Center in Austin Breaks Ground

Live Oak-Gottesman broke ground recently on a new 70,000 square foot medical office building in Austin according to an Austin Business Journal article. Live Oak-Gottesman is developing the property along with Rooker & Associates, which will also serve as the general contractor on the project, which is expected to be completed by the third quarter of next year.

Adjacent to St. David's North Austin Medical Center in the heart of North Austin's medical center corridor, Cedar Bend Professional Center offers access to the hospital, high parking ratios with covered physician parking. Cedar Bend is located less than two miles from the Domain offering a high volume of restaurants and retailer options. The property is 90% pre-leased to tenants including the General Services Administration, Capital Otolaryngology, Head & Neck Surgeons, Nasal & Sinus Center of Austin, Renu Austin and Snoring Austin.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

New Development Planned at Bosch-Hogg Building Site in Austin

Developers in Austin have applied for a zoning change at the 800 block of Congress Avenue in Austin to pursue a boutique hotel with 120,000 square feet of office space according to an article from The Statesmen. The project would occupy the land currently taken by the Bosch-Hogg Building which was originally built in 1897 as a three story building with three additional floors added to the structure in 1984. Austin developer David Kahn, managing partner of Colina West Limited, plans to build a 28 story mixed use property in its place but will need the zoning change to allow for a larger building than is currently permitted for that site.

"I saw an opportunity to bring some excitement and energy to that part of downtown," said Kahn. He also explained that while financing for his project is not in place, he expects to fund it with local investors and bank financing.

"The downtown Austin hotel market is one of the strongest in the state, which should be able to support more hotel rooms," said Randy McCaslin, vice president in the Houston office of PKF, a hotel industry research and consulting firm. "However, there are a lot of hotel projects in various stages of planning, so a lot will depend on who gets financing first."

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.