Brandywine Realty Trust listed 1 million square feet of Austin office assets for sale as it evaluates the market value of its holdings.
The Philadelphia-based investment trust is testing the market with three buildings, the Austin Business Journal reported.
JLL’s Ryan Stevens, Mike McDonald and Drew Fuller are marketing these properties:
- Four Barton Skyway, a 225,600-square-foot building at 1301 South MoPac Expressway in Southwest Austin, which is 72 percent leased;
- Four Points Centre I and II, a 192,400-square-foot campus at 11305 Four Points Drive in Northwest Austin, which is 19 percent leased; and
- River Place Corporate Park, a seven-building, 590,900-square-foot office park at 6500 River Place Boulevard in Northwest Austin, which is 42 percent leased.
The listings are part of a broader strategy to gauge pricing in a slow commercial real estate market, not an indication that Brandywine is pulling back from the Austin region, said Bill Redd, the company’s senior managing director and top Austin executive.
“It’s an exercise where owners of office space are trying to decide, with the market being slow, what are our assets worth?” Redd told the outlet. “That helps you decide what you should do if you’re hanging on to those assets over the next one to five years.”
Brandywine is focused on developing its Uptown ATX project, a 66-acre mixed-use development near the Domain. The next phases will include less office space than initially planned due to Austin’s elevated office vacancy rate, which is north of 20 percent.
Originally envisioned as half office, the project is now expected to comprise closer to one-third office, Redd said, though that ratio may shift with market conditions.
Brandywine’s pivot mirrors moves by other major developers, including Presidium and Endeavor Real Estate Group, which are reducing office components in favor of housing, retail and hospitality in upcoming Austin projects.
—Rachel Stone
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