An office building in Northwest Austin sold for nearly 80 percent more than its last trade 12 years ago.
Legal tech company LegalZoom sold its 206,000-square-foot building at 9900 Spectrum Drive and the surrounding 48 acres to the Round Rock Independent School District for $37.75 million, the Austin Business Journal reported. The price comes to $183 per square foot or $786,500 per acre.
LegalZoom paid $21 million for the property in 2013. IUt was most recently appraised at $41.8 million.
Round Rock ISD plans to convert the office into a center for career and technical education and innovation, housing programs like auto body, cosmetology, early childhood education and electrical trades. The building will also provide space for robotics teams and student organizations.
LegalZoom had a $41 million cash purchase agreement with Trinity Foundation RE Venture LLC to sell the property in 2023, but the deal never closed.
The latest sale gives LegalZoom a cash boost and adds flexibility for future investment and shareholder returns, COO and CFO Noel Watson said. LegalZoom plans to lease office space elsewhere in Austin, though it has not disclosed the location.
The sale comes amid shifts in corporate office strategies in Austin as tech firms in particular look to shed or reconfigure real estate amid remote work and cost-cutting.
Take Meta Platforms. After seeking subtenants for portions of its downtown Austin office space, the Facebook and Instagram owner recently committed almost $3 million to build out part of its 120,000-square-feet space at 300 West 6th Street, though it remains unclear for whom. Google only last month moved to fill the full-building lease it agreed to six years ago at the 35-story, 804,000-square-foot “Sail Tower” at 601 West 2nd Street, which had sat vacant since 2022.
LegalZoom is headquartered in Glendale, California, and went public in 2021. It has undergone a series of layoffs over the past year, including local cuts.
— Judah Duke
Read more
Fortis’ Austin office loan heads to special servicing
Meta drops $3M on office buildout, but for whom?
Google finally moving into Austin’s Sail Tower this year
