The Teacher Retirement System of Texas (TRS) announced the sale of its Austin headquarters property on Red River Street in downtown Austin this week. The 3.8-acre property and buildings have been sold to a subsidiary of a publicly traded real estate investment trust for $108 million.
 
As part of the sale, TRS will be able to continue occupying the downtown buildings for two years while its new Austin headquarters in the Mueller Business District is completed. The new facility will consist of two buildings and accompanying parking, offering TRS members and the agency’s staff more efficient space outside of downtown Austin.
 
Occupancy of the first building, Alpha, in the new facility is expected to begin in the summer of 2023 with remaining TRS staff moving into the neighboring Bravo building in late 2024. Austin-based TRS employees will be located at the new facility, saving the agency money on downtown leasing costs previously needed for additional office space.
 
TRS’ Red River headquarters first housed employees of the retirement system in the early 1970s, when there were just over 200 staff and about 300,000 TRS members. Today, some 1,000 TRS employees serve nearly 1.9 million members.
 
According to TRS, this move into a newer, more expansive space will “serve its growing membership with a generational solution for its headquarters.” TRS is also working to better serve its members in underserved areas of the state through a regional office initiative.” The first regional office is slated to open in El Paso in November 2022.