Everybody Loves Austin
Austin is getting so much love these days, from so many different sources. Consider this:
• Austin is the fastest-growing city in the US as the population shot up 2.9% during the 12 months ending July 2014, according to Census figures.
• Austin tops Forbes’ “America’s Cities of the Future” ranking of cities most likely to prosper over the next decade.
• The Urban Land Institute ranked Austin No. 2 of the nation’s top markets to watch in 2016.
If those four items don’t mean much in the abstract, PMRG’s Austin office market report breaks down the nitty-gritty of Austin’s health as the ground zero of growth. Employment growth, particularly in the technology sector, is fueling demand citywide with 274k SF of occupancy gains during Q1 2016.
Cushman & Wakefield’s Q1 report notes that Austin’s unemployment rate ranked as one of the lowest among the 50 largest metropolitan areas, coming in at 3.2% (as of March 2016). Austin added more than 39,800 new jobs in the past 12 months, some of which are relocations from places like Silicon Valley.
The report notes that Austin continues to be an attractive destination for growing businesses. Tech heavy hitters like Oracle, Apple, Google, Indeed and others have expanded their presence in the capital city.
Three new office buildings were delivered in Q1, totaling 321k SF that was 31.5% pre-leased. In the past 12 months, developers have delivered nearly 2.5M SF of new construction.
