Cousins Lands Austin’s Sail Tower for $521.8M

Cousins Properties is under contract to acquire 601 West 2^nd Street, also known as Sail Tower, an 804,000-square-foot office property in Austin, for a net purchase price of $521.8 million. At a recent investor presentation Cousins’ says Sail Tower’s rents are “below market” and the purchase price is well below replacement cost.

Sail Tower is located near the Second Street entertainment district in Downtown Austin and offers unobstructed views of Lady Bird Lake.  It is just a few blocks away from Cousins’ existing 1.7 million square foot Downtown Austin office portfolio, which is currently 93% leased. Sail Tower was developed in 2022 and the office space is 100% leased to a Fortune 20 company through 2038.    

Trammell Crow Co. developed the tower, which was formerly known as Block 185.

Founded in 1958, Cousins primarily owns and acquires office assets in Sun Belt markets, including its recent $328.5 million acquisition of Vantage South End in Charlotte. The company’s stock price closed on Monday, Dec. 9 at $30.99 per share, up from $22.52 a year ago, a 37.6 percent increase.