Work Underway On New HHS Building, Texas Capitol Complex

A $581 million project to transform the north entrance to the Texas Capitol and construction of new $445 million office building and parking garage for the Texas Health and Human Services…

A $581 million project to transform the north entrance to the Texas Capitol and construction of new $445 million office building and parking garage for the Texas Health and Human Services (HHS) Commission on West Guadalupe Street, have kicked off. The Texas Facilities Commission is overseeing both projects which aims to consolidate the state’s office leases in the Austin area into the state-owned buildings.

Plans for the first phase of the capitol complex upgrade call for building two new office buildings, providing underground parking and creating a public mall that will replace a section of Congress Avenue from Martin Luther King Boulevard to 16th Street.

A future phase will expand the mall to 15th Street. A 14-story, 603,000-square-foot building on Congress Avenue will include display and performance spaces and a café and food service on the first floor. The first floor will serve as a plaza for the Bob Bullock Museum and the Blanton Art Center and house state offices on the upper floors.

A 12-story, 416,000-square-foot office building further south is planned to include a state childcare facility and other offices. The parking garage and mall should be completed in May 2022 and the two office buildings in late 2021.

To replace current leased space, construction began in June on a new 406,000-square-foot, nine-story office building and parking garage to replace the John H. Winters Building that now houses the Health and Human Services Commission. The project should be completed by May 2021. Estimates are that this new state building will save $7.4 million in lease expenses.

This story originally published by Strategic Partnerships, Inc.