260,000-SF Penn Field Gets First Tenant, More Coming

In all, the leases signify that nearly 50% of the 260,000-sf undertaking along S. Congress is practically spoken for, John Rosato, partner of Southwest Strategies Group, tells GlobeSt.com. Anchor tenant Architerra has taken the keys to its 33,000-sf design center, which is considered the project's centerpiece.

Three other Austin-based tenants are eyeing summer move-ins. Gathering of Developers, a high-tech provider, has signed a 12,000-sf lease. Davis Group, an advertising agency, plans to occupy 5,500 sf and House and/or House, a software developer, has closed on a 5,000-sf spot. All three are taking spots in different buildings of the multi-structure redevelopment. The buildings' retrofitting is geared to several types of users although its first-run cast pretty much been of the high-tech nature.

The one-story brick buildings had been constructed in 1918 for the administration and housing for Army Air Corps training. Southwest Strategies has been working on the property for about a year and it's just now starting to deliver. It will take another year for build-out, says Rosato. Still to be done is the conversion of a 60,000-sf warehouse into office space. Until Southwest came along, the site had been used for industrial purposes for 60 years, with owners' roster that even included a manufacturer of faux fireplaces.

Southwest Strategies considers itself a retrofit specialist. One of its more high-profile properties had been the conversion of the 1876 Grove's drug store in Austin's CBD into an office building. The Penn Field project is by far the largest that the firm's undertaken, says Rosato. "We liked the location and we liked the potential," he tells GlobeSt.com.Rosato says his firm likes to tackle one or two projects a year. For this year, he says the goal is just "to finish this one. It's big enough." Connie GoreAUSTIN-The 16-acre Penn Field adaptive reuse project is off and running, with its anchor tenant having just moved in. Meanwhile, three more leases have been inked and at least 38,000 sf in pacts are waiting to be signed.

In all, the leases signify that nearly 50% of the 260,000-sf undertaking along S. Congress is practically spoken for, John Rosato, partner of Southwest Strategies Group, tells GlobeSt.com. Anchor tenant Architerra has taken the keys to its 33,000-sf design center, which is considered the project's centerpiece.

Three other Austin-based tenants are eyeing summer move-ins. Gathering of Developers, a high-tech provider, has signed a 12,000-sf lease. Davis Group, an advertising agency, plans to occupy 5,500 sf and House and/or House, a software developer, has closed on a 5,000-sf spot. All three are taking spots in different buildings of the multi-structure redevelopment. The buildings' retrofitting is geared to several types of users although its first-run cast pretty much been of the high-tech nature.

The one-story brick buildings had been constructed in 1918 for the administration and housing for Army Air Corps training. Southwest Strategies has been working on the property for about a year and it's just now starting to deliver. It will take another year for build-out, says Rosato. Still to be done is the conversion of a 60,000-sf warehouse into office space. Until Southwest came along, the site had been used for industrial purposes for 60 years, with owners' roster that even included a manufacturer of faux fireplaces.

Southwest Strategies considers itself a retrofit specialist. One of its more high-profile properties had been the conversion of the 1876 Grove's drug store in Austin's CBD into an office building. The Penn Field project is by far the largest that the firm's undertaken, says Rosato. "We liked the location and we liked the potential," he tells GlobeSt.com.

Rosato says his firm likes to tackle one or two projects a year. For this year, he says the goal is just "to finish this one. It's big enough."