New development now has 39K square feet of available office space

One of the newest developments on the bustling South Lamar Boulevard is now three-quarters leased as a nationwide veterinary hospital taps the location for its next headquarters.

National Veterinary Associates, which has a network of 1,300 veterinary hospital locations, signed a 39,000-square-foot lease to secure the uppermost floor of The Bouldin, according to an announcement. The Bouldin, currently under development by Austin-based Seamless Capital, is a two-building mixed-use development across blocks 1300 and 1400 of South Lamar that will have 309 residential units and about 75,000 square feet of office space.

NVA currently subleases a 30,000-square-foot office at 2043 S. Lamar Blvd., according to an NVA representative. It relocated its headquarters to Austin from El Segundo about two years ago.

The new lease pushes The Bouldin’s non-apartment building to 75% leased. That leaves 39,000 vacant square feet of office space at the property.

“The NVA lease proves the attraction of the South Lamar corridor for office tenants looking to be surrounded by Austin’s most iconic restaurant spots and live music venues,” stated Jonathan Tate, principal with Endeavor Real Estate Group, which is handling leasing of the office building. “The pre-leasing momentum that we have at 1301 South Lamar is validating the premiums that can be achieved from creating a dynamic mixed-use environment in a single, cohesive project.”

NVA was represented in the transaction by Daniel Rasmussen and Brian Walker of Cushman & Wakefield.

The Bouldin’s office building was originally planned to be entirely office, but plans shifted with the changing markets, according to previous reporting, which created the opportunity for Life Time Group Holdings Inc. (NYSE: LTH) to lease 57,700 square feet for an athletic country club in the first and second floors of the building. Life Time’s new location is expected to open in mid-2025.

Other retail tenants at the four-acre development include Postino Wine Cafe and the Paperboy restaurant.

The Bouldin’s apartment building will begin leasing in early 2025, a Seamless Capital representative confirmed.

The office leasing market has been becoming more active as the year goes on. PayPal Inc. (Nasdaq: PYPL) recently expanded its 60,000-square-foot lease at Domain Tower 2 to 151,000 square feet, and fintech Wise PLC (LSE: WISE) signed a 60,000-square-foot lease in the same tower. New York-based Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP signed a 28,000-square-foot lease in the under-construction Republic office building downtown, where O’Melveny & Myers LLP leased 28,000 square feet earlier this year. Kirkland & Ellis will also be occupying space in The Republic, and like Pillsbury, will be vacating office space in Frost Bank Tower to do so.

Still, Austin has a glut of vacant office space. Of a total inventory of 67.4 million square feet of office space in the metro, 24.3% is vacant, according to commercial real estate firm CBRE’s third-quarter market report. But there is demand, with 81 tenants actively seeking space totaling more than 2.5 million square feet.