In a series of breathless reports over the past couple of days, Austin news outlets, press releases, and industry publications have confirmed that IBM signed a lease for an entire 320,000-square-foot building at the Domain in North Austin.
More specifically, the old-school, Fortune 100 tech company rented the office building called Domain 12, which is owned by Atlanta-based REIT Cousins Properties.
The buzz intensified when it became known that IBM will assume Meta Platforms’ existing commitment effective January 2026, according to the Austin Business Journal, and extend its maturity date from 2031 to 2040. The assumption will be effective starting January 2026.
IBM last year signed a an agreement for 320,000 square feet at a Hines-owned space in Domain Northside, a 500,000-square-foot development project, but the deal fell through.
Facebook parent company Meta laid off more than 10,000 employees and announced a 120,000-square-foot sublease in a downtown Austin building in 2022. It’s cut back on office space across the nation in recent years, including in Manhattan, where it exercised an early termination clause for 200,000 square feet the same year.
Domain 12, one of several office buildings adjacent to the planned development's dining and entertainment district, was delivered in 2020. It has its own café, outdoor terraces, a fitness center, bike storage, and direct access to hike-and-bike trails. Cousins has 2.5 million square feet of Domain property in its portfolio, with more than 99 percent of it leased.
