New SXSW Center opens Downtown next week

After a relatively brief construction and finish-out period, SXSW will open its new downtown headquarters next week, Eater Austin reported Friday. The SXSW Center, as it’s officially called, is going food-forward for the occasion with its SouthBites lobby cafe opening its doors Monday.

The curvy, column-free structure was designed by Pei Cobb Freed with Gensler the architect of record. Located two blocks from the state Capitol grounds, the 13-story building has 145,000 square feet of office space; a ground-floor plaza designed around a grove a heritage oaks; the cafe and gathering spaces and the cafe in the lobby; a 12,000-square-foot roof deck for tenants, their guests, and special occasions; and electric-car chargers in its attached, 300-space parking garage.

Global coworking-space company WeWork has rented 65,000 square feet of space in the new center. SXSW will occupy the top three floors.