Rackspace clouds Austin CC Highland campus

AUSTIN – Austin Community College (ACC) has entered into a public-private partnership with tech company Rackspace Hosting that will move 570 of Rackspace’s Austin employees into ACC’s Highland campus, formerly Highland Mall.

Rackspace — a San Antonio-based cloud management company — plans to open its Highland offices in late 2015 in a renovated space that was formerly home to Dillard’s. Rackspace also plans to expand its local workforce there in the future.

The partnership is expected to include paid internships for ACC students, as well as enhanced technology training and other educational benefits, while allowing Rackspace to benefit from proximity to the college.

Live Oak-Gottesman will renovate the four-story, 194,000-sf former Dillard’s space, funded by a portion of Rackspace’s lease payment.

The college’s first phase of development at Highland, including ACCelerator — which is being billed as the nation’s largest learning lab — will open fall 2014.

Read more at the Austin American-Statesman.