Park Plaza marks the first major office tower in downtown, or the Central Business District, since the Frost Bank Tower broke ground in 2001. The site, known locally as the Sandy Beach tract, is regarded as one of two "development-ready," or fully-entitled sites in the CBD, allowing construction to commence immediately.

Lamy acknowledges the challenges facing new development today, but contends that Park Plaza has all the hallmarks for success. "It boils down to basic supply and demand," he says. "There's not a lot of new, Class A office space in downtown Austin, a sector that's maintained one of the healthiest occupancy rates in the city. If I were in Detroit, I wouldn't be doing this. But Austin, Texas – and specifically downtown – is alive and well."

Lamy notes that Park Plaza will benefit from visibility, downtown access without Lamar congestion, proximity to parks, Lady Bird Lake and restaurants and 360-degree views. It will boast front-door access to the pedestrian bridge spanning Cesar Chavez that is currently under construction.

Capital City Partners is the same developer behind one of only two multi-tenant office buildings to move forward in Austin's urban core during in the most recent downturn. Those two include an eight-story, 206,000-square foot office building in University Park, otherwise known as the former Concordia University Campus, and Capstar Plaza, another Capital City Partners project.

Capital City Partners pre-leased and developed the Capstar Plaza building, a 115,000-square-foot, eight-story, Class A office building at southeast corner of MoPac Expressway and Fifth Street. It recently won the Austin Business Journal's Best Real Estate Award in the New Office Development category.

Capstar Plaza began construction in mid-2008 and was 100 percent leased before construction wrapped up in September 2009. It was delivered ahead of schedule, substantially under budget, and was put on the market for sale this week.

"We believe there are many similarities between the Capstar building and the opportunity at Sandy Beach in terms of iconic value, market demand and overall potential," Lamy says.

Capital City plans to replicate the business model, including using much of the same core team for Park Plaza. Susman Tisdale Gayle is currently working on design and architectural services for the project, and Construction Services of Texas will be the project manager.