Downtown Austin is better together.
While Downtown Austin has enjoyed explosive growth over most of the 21st century, we now face significant economic headwinds—including rising interest rates and inflation—that have slowed growth and ushered in uncertainty. Although the pace of development has steadied, a pipeline of well-financed projects shows Downtown Austin is still a sound investment.
Several transformative infrastructure projects are being planned. When completed, these projects will enhance downtown vitality, but the construction phase will be disruptive. Additionally, we face pressing issues around public safety, affordability and homelessness.
No one entity can tackle these huge challenges alone. That’s why the Downtown Austin Alliance partners with so many organizations to find solutions. This is a city of innovators, widely praised for its collaborative culture.
We are better together, and we invite you—our downtown community—to join us as we work to preserve Downtown Austin’s vibe, vitality and value for everyone.
Downtown Development
Downtown Austin is better positioned to weather a development activity downturn than most U.S. city centers. Austin is the country’s second-fastest-growing metropolitan area, and downtown is its densest employment district and hub for state and local government, hospitality and entertainment. Downtown still has a healthy pipeline of well-financed projects, with projects under construction representing an even balance of office, residential and mixed-use buildings.
Here are a few key highlights on Downtown Austin’s development from 2023 – 2024:
- 11 projects totaling 3.85 million square feet were delivered in 2023.
- Downtown has 16 projects totaling 7.1 million square feet under construction.
- The vast majority of office leases were for under 20,000 square feet of space. Having a larger number of smaller tenants from diverse industries can increase downtown’s resilience.
- 88% of available Downtown Austin storefronts were occupied by operating businesses (down from 90% in 2022).
- Approximately 54% of all downtown retail establishments are drinks and entertainment businesses, restaurants, or food trucks.
State of Downtown Report 2024
A very special thank you to all of our Future of Downtown: Better Together and State of Downtown sponsors.
