Owners of Austin newspaper accepting offers for lakefront location
by Aron Susman
The Austin American-Statesman could soon be moving away from its location south of the downtown area.
The lakefront property in downtown Austin near the Congress Avenue Bridge, which has housed a major local newspaper, is on the market, but although many publications have been closing their doors recently, a sale of this property would not spell the end of the newspaper.
The location currently houses the area's major newspaper - The Austin American-Statesman. Should Cox Media Group sell the property, the newspaper would presumably relocate to a location somewhere else in the city. The current property sits on 18.9 acres adjacent to Lady Bird Lake, just south of downtown. The 330,000 square-foot property is valued $39.8 million and would offer its new owners quite a bit of flexibility.
"There's a lot of redevelopment going on in this town and around town," Austin Business Journal editor Colin Pope told local news source YNN Austin. "The current zoning does not allow residential which might be a big draw back because a lot of these companies, when they redevelop downtown property, they want to build big high-rise condos or apartments."
Although this would limit development somewhat, zoning laws allow properties on that parcel of land to climb as high as they want, which could draw in even more interested buyers. Austin, along with several other Texas municipalities, remain some of the most ideal locations for business owners to begin their operations.
Whether business owners take advantage of the newspaper's location or prefer Brentwood office space in the more northern sections of downtown, they should be aware that considerable redevelopment is occurring in the area, which could be of benefit to them. To identify these properties, a business owner may seek assistance of a commercial office listings provider during their Austin commercial building search.
