Google’s new downtown tower home at full height
Hundreds of Google employees will work at 500 West 2nd Street.
The downtown tower that some are calling “the Google building” has reached a milestone.
The 29-story building, which will eventually house hundreds of Google employees, has “topped out.” That means it has reached its highest point of construction.
Search engine giant Google will lease more than 200,000 square feet of space in the building, which will have 500,000 square feet of office space in total.
It also will have about 11,000 square feet of restaurant and retail space on the ground floor.
The building is named for its address, 500 West 2nd Street. It is expected to open early next year.
The tower is one piece of the ongoing redevelopment at a former city-owned industrial site that housed a water treatment plant.
In announcing Google’s plans last year, company spokesman Gerardo Interiano said: “Since 2007, hundreds of Googlers have lived and worked in Austin, enjoying all the city has to offer from our trails to our festivals, to countless breakfast tacos. As a result of our recent growth, we’re excited to share that Google Austin has signed a lease for over 200,000 square feet at the new Green Water Treatment Plan redevelopment.”
The project is part of a wave of new development sweeping downtown’s western edge. Projects include a new central library and the redevelopment of the former Seaholm Power Plant, which has been transformed into a mixed-use project with condos,
offices, restaurants, retail and a Trader Joe’s.
Trammell Crow Co. is developing the 500 West 2nd building, partnering with Principal Real Estate Investors.
The building is now 60 percent leased. New leases include: King & Spalding, an international law firm and CBRE Group Inc., a global commercial real estate firm.
In all, the redevelopment project will have more than 1.8 million square feet of apartments and condos, offices, hotel rooms, shops and restaurants.
Construction is also underway on a 33-story tower that will house a boutique hotel and luxury condos. Called Austin Proper Hotel & Residences, it will include 244 hotel rooms and 99 condos priced from $600,000 to more than $3 million.
Already open is North Shore, a 38-story tower with 439 apartments, plus retail, restaurants and office space.