BACK TO ALL ARTICLES02/17/2022

Atmosphere eats up much of South Austin building for new HQ

PUBLICATION: AUSTIN BUSINESS JOURNAL

Streaming TB startup will fill space with hundreds of new employees.

Atmosphere, the streaming television startup that broadcasts videos to bars and waiting rooms around Austin and the nation, will have a new home next year.

The company in late January signed a 10-year lease for 110,000 square feet in the new Bouldin Creek office building, nearly six times the size of its current main office on Congress Avenue. It will occupy space on the first, third and fourth floors, which it will fill with hundreds of new employees, with teams dedicated to content production, engineering, sales and more.

Tenant buildout is expected to take 14 to 16 months, so executives hope they can move in sometime in the second quarter of 2023.

As one of the few office leases of 100,000 square feet or more in Austin since the start of the pandemic, it’s another e xample of a company committing to a long-term office footprint near the urban core, even as questions abound about the future of the workplace.

Atmosphere Chief Financial Officer Mike Grisko said the company was drawn to Bouldin Creek by its design, led by Michael Hsu Office of Architecture, and its unique location, backing up to the creek that gives the building its name. The site features roughly two aces of green space that Atmosphere can now customize.

“The design that Michael had on the building was just an absolute jaw-dropper,” Grisko said. “The sanctuary and the green space that it sits on — I mean, it was a huge selling point for us.”

He said the outdoor space was viewed as a wellness bonus, and the neighborhood features plenty of restaurants and bars to help recruit during the Great Resignation. Bouldin Creek comes with the amenities you’d expect in a brand new class A building, like a gym, locker rooms and a rooftop deck, but Atmosphere also plans to build its own full cafe/bar and wellness center for employees. Atmosphere will also have prominent signage on the building exterior.

Atmosphere, which operates legally as Rarified Atmosphere Inc., leased from DivcoWest Real Estate Services LLC, the San Francisco-based investment firm that bought Bouldin Creek l ast summer. It has a burgeoning portfolio in Austin, including as co-developer of Sixth and GuadalupeREAD MORE