Google Finally Flips the Lights On at Austin’s Sail Tower

7 January 2026

One of downtown Austin’s most conspicuously empty office towers is no longer empty.

Google finally moved into the Sail Tower, the 35-story, 804,000-square-foot skyscraper at 601 West Second Street, after leaving the building dark for years despite holding a full-building lease. The Austin Business Journal reported that activity was visible inside the badge-restricted lobby on Tuesday morning, and a building employee confirmed that Google occupied the tower late last year, shortly before the holidays. Google executives declined to comment.

The move closes a long-running loop in Austin’s office market. Google signed a lease for the entire Sail Tower in 2019, committing to the building through 2038. But after the tower was completed in 2022, the tech giant never moved in, turning the sail-shaped glass tower into a downtown riddle: fully leased, architecturally striking and entirely vacant.

Google confirmed in March that it planned to occupy the building by the end of 2025.

Leaving the tower empty was hardly cheap. According to commercial real estate firm Avison Young, trophy office rents in Austin’s central business district averaged $67.39 per square foot at the end of 2019. At that rate, the Austin Business Journal estimated that Google would have been paying roughly $53 million annually — or about $145,000 per day — for space it wasn’t using. That burn rate, while eye-popping by local standards, is a rounding error for Alphabet, which most recently reported about $125 billion in annual net income.

Google wasn’t exactly homeless during the gap either. The company also leases space at East Austin’s Saltillo development and occupies much of the neighboring tower at 500 West Second Street. Whether those leases will be renewed or shed now that Sail Tower is active remains unclear.

The building’s dark years didn’t scare off investors. Atlanta-based Cousins Properties bought the Sail Tower from Dallas-based Trammell Crow Company for $521.8 million in December 2024, betting on Google’s long-term commitment. At the time, Cousins executives said they were comfortable with Google’s plans for Austin, even as the tower sat unused.

Despite leasing the entire building, Google may not be alone inside for long. The company has been marketing the top six floors for sublease. One potential subtenant is Digital Realty Trust, which filed plans last year to build out an executive office suite and terrace space on the upper floors.

— Eric Weilbacher