AUSTIN | 500 West 2nd Street | 400 FEET - 28 FLOORS | COMPLETE - Page 4

wwmiv · #61 Posted **Feb 16, 2015, 10:04 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jdawgboy

It's a thin footprint but it's long and takes the full length of the block. It won't look bulky from the east or west but will be bulky and wall like from the north or south.

Basically like almost every building we have.

Jdawgboy · #62 Posted **Feb 16, 2015, 8:27 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by wwmiv

Basically like almost every building we have.

True that.

The ATX · #63 Posted **Mar 9, 2015, 4:37 PM**

This last filing about the crane installation has 03/15 as the event end date. The dates on these crane installation filings are not always accurate due to weather or other delays, but this means at least one of the cranes could be going up next weekend.

https://www.austintexas.gov/devrevie...erRSN=11291303

Jdawgboy · #64 Posted **Mar 10, 2015, 7:32 PM**

Kinda surprised they would do it right at the peak of SXSW. I had heard that most of the construction work would slow or stop completly until SXSW is over.

pscajunguy · #65 Posted **Mar 10, 2015, 8:17 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jdawgboy

Kinda surprised they would do it right at the peak of SXSW. I had heard that most of the construction work would slow or stop completly until SXSW is over.

It makes sense. Actually that's about the only place in Downtown that they could do it during SXSW.

airwx · #66 Posted **Mar 13, 2015, 4:46 PM**

Quote:

Google this: Tech giant takes huge portion of Green Water Treatment redevelopment project
Mar 13, 2015, 11:25am CDT
Jan Buchholz
Staff Writer-Austin Business Journal

After months of speculation, Google Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOG) confirmed Friday that it is taking a major portion of the new office building under construction at the Green Water Treatment Plant — some 200,000 square feet.

A memorandum of lease was sent to Travis County officials, based on information provided to Austin Business Journal by Google's local public relations firm, Elizabeth Christian Public Relations.

http://www.bizjournals.com/austin/bl....html?page=all

_Matt · #67 Posted **Mar 13, 2015, 5:30 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by airwx

http://www.bizjournals.com/austin/bl....html?page=all

Wow. I can imagine a lot of those Googlers will want to live downtown. This is massive.

Tech House · #68 Posted **Mar 13, 2015, 7:08 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by _Matt

Wow. I can imagine a lot of those Googlers will want to live downtown. This is massive.

Excellent point. It's nice to see a large tech industry presence downtown, so that it's not dominated by the financial and legal services industries like so many (ahem) less-interesting cities. No offense, Hartford.

mars-man · #69 Posted **Mar 13, 2015, 9:34 PM**

Must say I'm a bit surprised that a company with pockets as deep as Google still bothers to lease. They seem really committed to DT Austin, so why not build their own custom digs. They would then have control over other tenants and could lease space to complementary business, startups they invest in, etc.

austlar1 · #70 Posted **Mar 13, 2015, 10:06 PM**

200,000 sq. feet from a company like Google in downtown Austin is possibly a game changer! These are some very interesting times in DT Austin. This new 28 story office building is half leased within just a few months of the start of construction. Google is bound to be an attractive neighbor to other potential tenants, practically guaranteeing the immediate success of 500 W. 2nd. I can imagine another large office project downtown fairly soon given this good news.

wwmiv · #71 Posted **Mar 13, 2015, 10:18 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by austlar1

I can imagine another large office project downtown fairly soon given this good news.

Agreed. See my most recent post in the update thread.

airwx · #72 Posted **Mar 13, 2015, 10:28 PM**

The ABJ article says it's unknown if they will use this space to consolidate the employees from their other locations in Austin. However, the Statesman's article says this:

Quote:

Google currently has three Austin locations, on North Mopac Boulevard (Loop 1), at University Park just north of downtown, and its Google Fiber space in what was formerly the Austin Children’s Museum downtown. The new space will consolidate the employees on North Mopac and University Park, while Google Fiber will remain at the Children’s Museum location three blocks from the new site, Interiano said.

So I wonder if it is still going to be mostly sales and marketing here, or if they are going to add more technical positions?

drummer · #73 Posted **Mar 13, 2015, 11:32 PM**

It doesn't say a number of employees, does it? Or am I missing something? How many employees is typical of 200,000 sq. ft.? Cubes vs. offices, of course, makes a difference, but I'm just curious as to how many new downtown jobs this would create.

_Matt · #74 Posted **Mar 14, 2015, 8:38 PM**

Just did a few google searches and it looks like 150-200 sqft per employee. So that's at least 1,000 jobs (!)

Tech House · #75 Posted **Mar 15, 2015, 12:48 AM**

They're not saying much about this lease but I wonder if Google may want to be a major player in Austin's future. Something is happening in this city that is uniquely exciting, it's happening fast, and a lot of people want in on it. Google seems to be a good corporate citizen. Bring it.

austlar1 · #76 Posted **Mar 15, 2015, 2:38 AM**

Google has a similar presence in several other cities, and it is not unusual for them to lease 200,000 sq. ft. of office space. I am not downplaying their activity here. Any company with that much office space in a small market like Austin is already a major local player.

wwmiv · #77 Posted **Mar 15, 2015, 3:28 AM**

Austin isn't a small tech market. It's a small market for other sectors, certainly, but Austin is a prestige market for tech.

austlar1 · #78 Posted **Mar 15, 2015, 4:02 AM**

It is a small market for downtown Class A office space. DT Austin has less than 9 million square feet of class A space at present, so a 200,000 sq. ft. downtown lease in Austin is truly very significant. It may be one of the largest leases ever signed for a downtown building. I am well aware that Austin is a hot tech town.

Tech House · #79 Posted **Mar 15, 2015, 5:08 PM**

What I was hinting at is that I think there's a good chance that this particular lease is only another step towards a much bigger involvement in Austin. Google reads the tea leaves like no other. It's just a hunch, I have nothing to back this with, but I bet there will be a huge announcement from Google about Austin within 5 years.

Jdawgboy · #80 Posted **Mar 15, 2015, 8:08 PM**

Honestly I'm not suprised by this news. There have been strong signs and hints that Google was likely to aquire up to 200K sf of space in this office building for months now and probably was why they started construction when they did. It's great news indeed but wasn't exactly a come out of nowhere announcement.