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As Tesla, Apple draw people to Austin, the office market proves to be one of the hottest in the US

Demand for office space in Austin has hit a record high in the early part of this year and placed the capital city as one of the top markets in the U.S. for office development.
According to a new report by real estate group CBRE, competition for offices has surged average asking rates to more than $53 per square foot in Austin. This is the first time rates were more than $50 since the company began tracking in 1989.
Aside from office and building space analysis, the report says the overall economic health of the Austin metro is “robust” with an unemployment rate lowering since March 2021 and population growth that’s come with company relocations and expansions.
CBRE says this trend has been spearheaded by Apple’s Northwest Austin campus and Tesla’s gigafactory which held its grand opening last week. And it won't slow down anytime soon. The report goes on to mention Oxford Economics data that forecasts a population increase of roughly 243,000 people over the next five years.
“Following two disruptive years, the Austin office market is bouncing back from the COVID-induced slump,” the report says. “As daily COVID cases continued to decline substantially in Austin, there has been an uptick in employees returning to the workplace in early 2022.”
The tech industry has driven a return to the office lately. Kastle Systems’ back to work barometer shows the Austin metro at 63% occupancy, a slight increase from late March. Just this week, Apple joined other tech giants like Meta with easing employees out of remote work.
The tech boom has also contributed to developers’ interest in multi-use skyscrapers downtown and is where many of the new towers under construction are located.
In total, there are 30 projects totaling 5.8 million square feet of office space under construction. But CBRE reports that downtown accounts for 39% of the market’s new office construction. Just below that is East Austin, which accounts for 35% of new office construction.
Other highlights from the report include a drop in vacancy and the sublease market contracting, CBRE says.
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Popular
(Austin FC)
Austin FC head coach Josh Wolff is here to stay as the Club announced he signed a three-year contract extension.
Wolff, who was previously an assistant coach for the U.S. Men's National Team, will coach Austin FC through the end of 2025 under the new contract.
Wolff has been the Austin FC head coach since November 2019. In the team's first year, some hoped to oust Wolff as the team was at the bottom of the Western Conference. But this year, the team is at the top, ranking No. 3.
“This is still a young, growing Club but seeing our vision for Austin FC come to life on and off the field has been one of the great honors of my career. My staff and I will keep working every day to represent the city, and to develop our team both competitively and as human beings. The best is yet to come," Wolff said.
(Moriah Wilson/Instagram)
Austin police are investigating the killing of Moriah "Mo" Wilson after she was found with gunshot wounds inside an East Austin home.
Wilson, a gravel and mountain bike racer, was visiting Austin from Colorado in preparation for the Gravel Locos race on Saturday taking place in Hico, a small town 2 hours from Austin.
On Wednesday, her roommate came home and found Wilson unresponsive with "a lot of blood near her,” police said, on Maple Avenue near East 17th Street. Officers and EMS performed life-saving measures before she was declared deceased at 10:10 p.m.
The Travis County Medical Examiner's office conducted an autopsy and determined the official cause of death to be multiple gunshot wounds, and the manner of death was a homicide. It is being investigated as a suspicious death and as of Saturday, police said they have a person of interest.
Wilson, 25, recently had become a full-time biker after winning a slew of races in the past year.
This story was updated on May 15 to include that police have determined a person of interest.