AUSTIN-Cousins Properties Inc.'s Congress at Fourth building has hauled in its fifth tenant, hiking pre-opening occupancy to 34%. And the tenant, Dewey Ballantine, a New York City-based law firm, hikes its Austin profile to the top two floors of what will be the city's tallest building.
Dewey Ballantine, which opened an Austin office in 2002, will take 35,000 sf on the building's 32nd and 33rd stories for 10 years, according to Tim Hendricks, senior vice president of development at Cousins. He declined to reveal the building's asking rents.
The firm will join three other law firms and an engineering company in the 525,000-sf tower. Last week, Cousins announced a 15-year lease with the Winstead, Sechrest & Minick law firm for 48,000 sf, the biggest in the building so far.
Law firms accounted for much of the 2002 leasing activity in the CBD. Hendricks tells GlobeSt.com that law firms, particularly those that have lobbying arms, want to be near the state capitol and government offices. A Congress Avenue address also is desired.
Law firms, Hendricks says, have flexibility to move quickly to sign a lease that takes advantage of the market. They aren't encumbered by a corporate site selection department that needs a year to find new space. “Law firms, historically, have been able to move whenever they want to as far as getting a deal done,” he says. “And they've very opportunistic in nature.”
Dewey Ballantine should move into Congress at Fourth in the first quarter 2004, Hendricks says. The building is scheduled to open in November.
In the meantime, the law firm will continue to sublease 37,165 sf at Frost Bank Plaza at 816 Congress. Dewey Ballantine is leasing the Frost Bank space from the Akin Gump Strauss Hauer and Feld law firm. Akin Gump left the Frost building last year for 300 West Sixth, an office tower that opened a little over a year ago. At last count, the project of CarrAmerica Realty and JER Partners was about 60% leased.
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