WeWork will open a co-working facility at South by Southwest's new corporate headquarters in downtown Austin.

Under the agreement, WeWork will lease 65,000 square feet of the 12-story office tower, which is under construction at 1400 Lavaca St.

The building is expected to be completed in June 2019 and WeWork's facility in the building is expected to open in late 2019.

"We are thrilled to welcome WeWork as a tenant in our new headquarters building, their platform enables us to fulfill our goal of bringing in entrepreneurs and startups," said Roland Swenson, CEO of SXSW and co-founder of CZ Properties, which owns the tower.

"The space is designed for collaborative work environments that allow the whole to be greater than the sum of its parts. SXSW believes in that same principle, and the SXSW Center is envisioned to be an extension of that ideal," Swenson said.

WeWork, which already has five Austin-area locations, will take three full floors of the new tower, which was designed by Yvonne Szeto and Bruce White with Pei Cobb Freed and Partners, a renowned architecture firm based in New York. Gensler is the architect of record for the project.

Gensler has been involved with several high-profile developments in Austin, including the Fairmont Austin hotel at Red River and East Cesar Chavez streets. The SXSW tower is the city's first Pei Cobb Freed and Partners project.

The SXSW Center will include 145,000 square feet of office space, a street level outdoor pavilion located in a grove of heritage oak trees, and a 12,000-square-foot rooftop garden with views of downtown Austin and the Texas State Capitol.

"WeWork is growing a campus of opportunity across Austin as we continue to expand our footprint, and we could not be more excited to do so in the SXSW Center," said Nathan Lenahan, WeWork vice president and general manager for Mt West + Texas.

Lenahan said WeWork has long been an active participant in SXSW activities, and this year the company has hosted or participated in more than two dozen events.

"Now, under a single roof where company becomes community, we're just getting started and can't wait to deliver more value and opportunities for the Austin community and beyond," Lenahan said.

In a sign that WeWorks plans to continue to expand in Austin, the company in December bought Waller Park Place, 4.7 acres located both east and west of Red River Street in the Rainey Street area on downtown Austin's eastern edge. The seller was McCourt Global.

WeWork has not said what its plans are for the site. The company did not immediately respond to a message left Tuesday seeking comment.

Jordan Lang, managing director of McCourt Partners, issued this statement to the American-Statesman in February through McCourt Global's communications media office:

"McCourt Global has been and continues to be excited about the development potential in Austin. After a highly competitive process, we were offered a purchase price for our project that confirmed the value we added through our efforts and the strength of the market. The new owners we selected will make the Waller Creek development a crown jewel in Austin’s future."

American-Statesman reporter Shonda Novak contributed to this report.