Lincoln Property Company and Kairoi Residential Complete Waterline, Now Texas' Tallest Tower, Backed by $742.5M Construction Loan

Lincoln Property Company and Kairoi Residential have completed Waterline, a 74-story, 1,025-foot mixed-use tower at 98 Red River St. in downtown Austin that now ranks as the tallest building in Texas. The 2.7 million-square-foot development integrates luxury apartments, Class AA office space, and a hotel into a single supertall structure, delivered two months ahead of schedule under a $742.5 million construction loan originated in June 2022 and maturing in June 2027.

Waterline surpasses Houston's JPMorgan Chase Tower by 23 feet to claim the state height record. The project sits on more than three acres adjacent to the Waterloo Greenway Confluence park in Austin's central business district.

A Mixed-Use Program Stacked Across 74 Stories

The tower's residential component, branded Bosque Residences, occupies 33 floors and comprises 352 apartments ranging from 701 to 2,803 square feet, including penthouses with waterfall kitchen islands and freestanding tubs. Office space totaling 703,000 square feet spans 24 floors of Class AA inventory. A 252-key hotel branded as 1 Hotel Austin occupies the top 13 stories of the building.

Roughly 24,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space anchors the base of the tower. Shared amenities across the building include a coworking lounge, conference rooms, a podcast studio, a golf simulator, and multiple swimming pools — an amenity mix designed to serve residents, office tenants, and hotel guests within the same structure.

The project team included DPR Construction as general contractor, Kohn Pedersen Fox as designer, HKS as architect of record, Brockette Davis Drake as structural engineer, and Alvine & Associates handling mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and fire protection systems.

Lincoln Property Company and Kairoi Residential's Second Austin Record-Setter

Waterline is the second consecutive skyline-defining tower delivered by the Lincoln Property Company and Kairoi Residential partnership in downtown Austin. The same team previously developed Sixth & Guadalupe, a 66-story tower that had held the title of Austin's tallest until Waterline topped out 185 feet above it. Sixth & Guadalupe comprises approximately 2.1 to 2.3 million square feet, including 349 apartments and roughly 589,000 square feet of office space.

With Waterline's completion, Lincoln Property Company and Kairoi Residential now control both Austin's tallest and formerly second-tallest towers. The partnership's established track record at Sixth & Guadalupe — covering design, entitlement, and construction execution — provided a foundation for the more complex mixed-use program at Waterline, which the development team delivered ahead of its original schedule despite combining three distinct property types in one structure.

Office Delivery Into a Tightening Construction Pipeline

Waterline's 703,000 square feet of office space is coming online into an Austin market where overall vacancy stands in the low-20% range, with Class A vacancy running somewhat higher. Average asking rents for Class A office in Austin's CBD have reached approximately $50 per square foot on a full-service basis, with modest year-over-year growth.

The broader Austin office construction pipeline has contracted sharply, declining more than 60% year-over-year to roughly 703,000 square feet — a figure that Waterline's office component represents in its entirety. With effectively no other large trophy deliveries queued behind it, Waterline's Class AA office floors represent the primary option for large occupiers seeking newly built space in downtown Austin. The office portion was fully unleased at delivery.

The construction loan, which Yardi Matrix describes as self-financed debt, was originated in June 2022 — a year before construction began — and carries a maturity date of June 2027, giving the development team a runway to stabilize the asset across its three operating components.

Austin's High-Rise Cycle Continues

Waterline's completion extends Austin's high-rise construction cycle even as citywide apartment rents have contracted in recent periods, reflecting the volume of multifamily supply delivered across the metro. The project's mixed-use structure — combining income streams from residential, office, and hospitality — differentiates it from single-use apartment towers that have faced more direct rent pressure.

Austin's permissive zoning environment has continued to support large mixed-use projects in the CBD, enabling the scale of development that both Waterline and Sixth & Guadalupe represent. With Waterline now complete, Lincoln Property Company and Kairoi Residential have established a consecutive record of delivering the city's tallest structures.