Employees of security company SailPoint crowd the front entrance of their new building prior to the start of the Feb. 4 ribbon-cutting ceremonies marking the culmination of a three-year
project.
By LESLEE BASSMAN, Four Points News
Surrounded by its local force of employees, CEO Mark McClain led SailPoint executives in a ribbon-cutting ceremony Feb. 4, celebrating the security company’s new $20 million headquarters located at 11120 Four Points Dr. The project was three years in the making.
Founded in 2006, SailPoint helps large enterprises determine who and how their employees access information and keep their databases secure, said Abby Payne, HR vice president. About half of the company’s 1,000 global staff members are based in Austin, she said.
SailPoint is the sole tenant of the 165,000-square-foot building that roughly doubles the space the digital security business currently occupies and the move unifies the company’s local employees from two temporary sites at River Place and Ladera Bend into a single building after being apart for three years, Payne said.
“So many companies today are realizing that the physical spaces that employees and coworkers and team members live and work in help to define the culture of the company,” said Gerard Sweeney, CEO and president of Brandywine Realty Trust, the building’s owner. “That culture helps define the brand and that brand creates that sense of enthusiasm, dedication, that drives companies to great success.”
SailPoint Chief Financial Officer Cam McMartin said the celebration marks the end of “a long journey” for the project that includes a building delay needed to iron out environmental concerns over the Golden-cheeked warbler, a species listed as endangered and protected by the Balcones Canyonlands Conservation Plan.
“It took us awhile, fully almost a year extra time, to get into this building because of that little bird but I can report now that bird (the Warbler) has a safe, new home,” McMartin said as he displayed a birdfeeder.
However, employees will still need to wait a bit longer — until Feb. 18 — to move into the new, four-story, facility to allow time for contractors to complete a finish-out punch list and relocate internal data infrastructure, Payne said.
The site includes a gym, stocked pantry, open area workstations, executive center and cafeteria space with three restaurants overlooking green space. The project boasts white noise machines on each of its four floors to soothe employees while they work and wellness rooms available to nursing mothers and other company members. Standing desks are offered to employees as a work space.
“We had built a building across the street (from its new site) in 2012 and believed that to be our forever home and quickly outgrew it,” Payne said. “So we started on this project.”
SailPoint officials conducted an analysis when the original Four Points headquarters was built and found the area to be the company’s “center of gravity so folks coming from the city (of Austin) could easily access this location,” she said.
“Our employees have enjoyed (Four Points) as our corporate home,” Payne said. “There is more space available so we can do more in this building than we would have in other locations across the city. I think they’ve enjoyed the development on (RM) 620 that’s provided other retail and dining opportunities for them. We’ve found that this has been a great landing spot for our people and we’re excited to expand our footprint.”
Payne said although traffic is a concern all across Austin, SailPoint provides its employees the benefit of commuting to and from work as their schedule allows as well as the ability to work remotely.
“Having that flexibility allows people to pattern match their commute into the office, depending on when it best suits them,” she said. “So that’s a nice opportunity for us to utilize all of the avenues to get here.”
The company has plans to grow even more, with only half of the building’s fourth floor in use, reserving the remainder of the space for future development. McMartin said the building can accommodate 725-750 employees.
“This will be our home for a number of years,” he said. “It has been a journey.”
SailPoint CEO and Co-founder Mark McClain addresses employees and
guests at the Feb. 4 ceremony marking the company’s new building.
LESLEE BASSMAN