AUSTIN, TX – Two 100-year old office buildings in the heart of downtown Austin’s commercial district have become a symbol of the city’s creative vibe. The Littlefield and Scarbrough Buildings, located at Sixth and Congress Streets, are undergoing significant renovations designed to preserve their historic charm while enhancing their ongoing appeal to a new generation of tenants. The buildings’ historic design and sweeping views of the Texas State Capitol are seen by many as the perfect environment for stimulating creativity, as well as attracting and retaining talented employees.
The Littlefield Building is a 110,254 square foot, nine story Beaux Arts office building located at 106 E. Sixth Street. The Scarbrough Building, located at 101 W. Sixth Street, offers 129,914 square feet rentable on eight floors and was designed in the Chicago style of architecture. These buildings last underwent comprehensive renovations in the late 1980s. New owner, San Francisco-based DivcoWest, acquired the buildings last October and has committed significant capital to renovate both lobbies, exteriors and common areas as well as prepare modern, creative build-outs to several desirable blocks of available space.
Full Floor View of State Capitol to be Unveiled Sept 12th
Chief among the build-outs is the entire top floor of the Scarbrough building. The 8,000 square foot renovation has resulted in an expansive open floor filled with natural light and offering 360 degree views of the city, including a close-up, unobscured view of the State Capitol. The renovation will be unveiled at an event to be held on Thursday, Sept 12th.
“These two classically designed and architecturally significant buildings have been adapted by various owners throughout the last 100 years as downtown Austin has changed. Today they are in high demand due to their unique architecture and stimulating environments,” said Eric Lupinski with DivcoWest.
Restaurant Opening
Next month, the Littlefield building will host the opening of Due Forni, a Las Vegas-based upscale eatery sourcing local produce and preparing Neapolitan and Roman-style pizza in dual ovens (due forni). In fact, both buildings are rich in amenities. Littlefield also hosts a Capital One Bank branch while the Scarbrough building is home to a Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse, a Brooks Brothers retail store and a Gold’s Gym. In addition to the restaurants in both buildings, their location at Sixth & Congress puts them in the heart of the city’s leisure and entertainment districts and close to both Sixth Street, Austin’s main restaurant, cafe and bar area, as well as the trendy Warehouse district with its upscale restaurants, bars and clubs.
The buildings have a unique place in the history of downtown Austin, having been built by competing entrepreneurs. Department store baron E.M. Scarbrough erected the Scarbrough Building in 1908 to house his flagship store. Office tenants include global design and innovation firm Frog Design, which recently expanded and now occupies 38,000 s.f. of the building.
The Littlefield was built by banker George W. Littlefield and opened in 1912 with his American National Bank as the major tenant. Originally an eight-story building with a rooftop garden, Littlefield enclosed the roof, creating an additional floor to make his building the tallest in Austin at the time. Major tenants include HQ Global Workspaces and Capital One.
Troy Holme, Katie Ekstrom, and Jayme Knight of the Austin office of CBRE are the buildings’ exclusive leasing team.
Note: Link to 6-minute public television video on importance of location of these buildings:
http://downtownaustintv.org/ - /history/main-and-main-sixth-and-congress/
About DivcoWest:
DivcoWest was founded by Stuart Shiff, who previously co-founded Divco West Properties in 1993. Since 1993, DivcoWest and Divco West Properties (together, “Divco”), have completed 75 transactions (the “Track Record”) using $2.1 billion total equity at the transaction level ($1.9 billion at the investment vehicle level) and total transaction level costs in excess of $5.0 billion. Of those transactions, 45 have been realized, generating a gross leveraged IRR of 33.8% and a gross equity multiple of 1.9x as of March 31, 2013. The estimated net leveraged returns for the Track Record are a 25.2% net leveraged IRR and a 1.7x net equity multiple. Today, DivcoWest is a vertically-integrated operating company with approximately 70 employees that provides asset, property and construction management and leasing services and has offices in the San Francisco Bay Area and Boston. DivcoWest is comprised of a dedicated group of professionals with extensive experience in sourcing, structuring, acquiring, financing, developing, redeveloping, managing, leasing and selling primarily commercial real estate and other real estate-related assets. DivcoWest employs a disciplined approach to investing on behalf of a broad base of U.S. and non-U.S. public and corporate pension funds, institutional investors and high net worth individuals, with a focus on creating value through prudent acquisitions, active management and well-timed sales.www.divcowest.com