Texas & Oklahoma Feature Archive

DALLAS — When developing multifamily product in a market that has added more than 20,000 new units in each of the past three years, distinguishing a community from its peers isn’t just important — it’s essential. According to data from CoStar Group, the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) metroplex added approximately 70,000 multifamily units between 2016 and 2018. The market has also absorbed more than 25,000 units over the last 12 months, a period in which only about 23,000 apartments were delivered. Vacancy currently sits at 7.5 percent. A panel of developers at the eighth annual InterFace Multifamily Texas conference discussed best practices for differentiating a property in a market that is not only teeming with new supply, but also home to segments of sophisticated renters. Held on Sept. 5 at the Westin Galleria hotel in Dallas, the event drew more than 225 attendees. Drew Kile, senior vice president at Institutional Property Advisors, a division of Marcus & Millichap, moderated the panel. Cultivating A Story Whether by the inclusion of an unusual amenity, the delivery of distinct unit mix that is perfectly targeted to the surrounding demographic or the ascription of a unique story behind the project, multifamily developers in DFW simply …

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DALLAS — The 2020 presidential election as well as tariffs, the primary economic weapon of the incumbent candidate, are weighing heavily on the decisions of industrial users and investors in Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW), according to a panel of experienced leasing and capital markets professionals at the InterFace DFW Industrial conference. Moderated by Coni Hennersdorf, principal of CODA Consulting Group, the event was held Sept. 4 at the Westin Galleria Hotel and attended by more than 200 people in its first year of existence. The panelists agreed that President Donald Trump’s tariffs, which at this point primarily target goods imported from China, have prompted some industrial users to stockpile inventories in advance of the tariffs going into effect. According to the Wall Street Journal, since July 2018, the administration has imposed tariffs on more than $250 billion worth of Chinese goods, not including the additional $150 billion in tariffs set to take effect in mid-December. Other tenants have opted to wait out the election and see if the tariffs will be repealed, effectively delaying key decisions on capital expenditures like labor and materials. The former scenario creates more demand for industrial space, while the latter puts potential expansion deals on hold. …

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Lenders Investors InterFace DFW Industrial

DALLAS — The Dallas industrial market is on fire, as a number of industry professionals repeatedly pointed out during the InterFace DFW Industrial conference. Held on Sept. 4 at the Westin Galleria Hotel in Dallas, the event drew more than 200 people in its inaugural year. Demand for industrial real estate from tenants, investors and lenders is strong enough to insulate the Dallas market from capitulation, even if the U.S. economy enters a recession, which some economists think may still be a ways off. During the event’s lenders and investors panel, speakers credited strong job and population growth in Dallas for this market insulation. Annually, the metroplex has added roughly 100,000 people and 75,000 jobs for the past several years. The market boasts a vacancy rate of 6 percent even with more than 30 million square feet of space under construction, according to CoStar Group. And tenant demand in Dallas continues to surge as well, fueling 12-month rent growth of 5.6 percent. Nikki Gibson, senior counsel at Bell Nunnally, moderated the panel. Market Evolution Central to the panel’s discussion as to why the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) industrial market is likely to weather severe economic storms was the notion that the …

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With some of the oldest members of Generation Z coming onto the rental scene seeking out their first college and post-college apartments, developers and property owners must start paying closer attention to this new audience. While Gen Z and millennials have quite a bit in common, they also differ in some fundamental aspects and demand different standards of living in residential spaces. Just when owners and property managers are finding their footing with millennials, Gen Z will reshape the rules. Who is Gen Z? Gen Z is the population born in and after 1995. With the oldest members having just graduated college in the last few years, this is the beginning of their descent on the rental market. Since they came of age during the Great Recession and watched their parents struggle to make ends meet, Gen Z has a more conservative approach to spending compared to millennials. They are also less likely to uproot and relocate for a new job, as telecommuting and the freelance career path allows them to create their dream job right where they are. Gen Z is a generation that has grown up with standard two-day delivery, on-demand TV shows, movies downloaded within a minute …

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Student loan figures indicate a growing affordability problem in higher education. The Federal Reserve reports that student loan debt in the United States is almost $1.6 trillion today, with 42 percent of people who attended college — which represents 30 percent of all adults — incurring at least some debt from their education.  With a focus on technology-based degree programs, the cost to attend college is rising. But it’s not just tuition that’s going up. According to College Board, the cost of housing exceeds the cost of tuition at four-year, public universities. For the 2017-2018 academic year, students paid an average of $9,970 for in-state tuition while room and board ran $10,800. “There’s a real need to get to the middle of the market and to build quality housing that students can afford,” says Joe Coyle, president of Michaels Student Living. Michaels Student Living is a specialized area of expertise within The Michaels Organization, a leading affordable housing developer in the United States. “Housing is a big part of what contributes to the high cost of attending college. We have to work together to find ways to mitigate this. It’s going to become more and more important.” While the student …

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DALLAS — After experiencing exceptional rent growth between 2014 and 2017, it may be time for developers of multifamily product in the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) metroplex to shift their attention from the revenue side of the equation to the expense side. According to CoStar Group, average asking rents across DFW rose by about 12 percent between 2014 and 2017. The year-over-year rent growth of 6.3 percent that occurred between 2014 and 2015 marked a 10-year high for the market and kicked new development into high gear. Now, however, the metroplex has become inundated with new multifamily supply — nearly 22,000 new units delivered in the past 12 months. Rent growth has slowed to about 2.2 percent year-to-date and vacancy is inching upward. But rather than pump the brakes on building, developers should be looking for ways to cut costs, not push rents, if they want to maintain their current levels of profitability. Such was the conclusion of six multifamily developers who gathered at the seventh annual InterFace Multifamily Texas conference on Sept. 26. Held at the Westin Galleria hotel in Dallas, the event drew roughly 250 attendees. Matt Brendel, divisional president and managing partner at Irving, Texas-based JPI, was the …

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LOS ANGELES — The sweeping tax reform bill signed into law in late 2017 by President Donald Trump is expected to benefit the U.S. multifamily investment market, according to a new report from CBRE. The report states that under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the tax benefits of renting over buying a home will increase in 29 of the 35 largest U.S. markets. That number is up from 15 markets before the tax reform. The new tax law increases the standard deduction from $12,700 to $24,000 for a married couple. This means more people will take the standard deduction rather than itemize items such as mortgage interest, which CBRE said will significantly benefit renters in most of the country’s largest markets and encourage renting over homeownership. Additionally, limitations on state and local tax deductions, as well as the loss of the mortgage interest deduction on home purchases of $750,000 or more, will marginally impact the cost of housing in high-cost markets. “The new tax policy’s raising of the standard deduction, combined with limitations on mortgage interest and state and local tax deductions, will significantly increase the attraction of renting versus buying housing,” said Spencer Levy, CBRE’s senior economic advisor and …

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HOUSTON — Retail follows rooftops, as the expression goes, but over the last decade in Houston, brick-and-mortar development and single- and multifamily construction have rarely moved at the same pace. Houston experienced a major housing boom in the years leading up to the oil downturn, which began in late 2014. A report from houstonproperties.com, which tracks the metro’s single-family market, notes that Houston topped the nation in new construction starts of single-family homes in 2013 and 2014. In addition, during that two-year stretch there were 28 high-rise apartment buildings under construction, and 83 additional high-rise multifamily projects either approved or proposed. Houston’s emergence as a strong-performing retail market in an era where brick-and-mortar shopping is on shaky ground was one of the key topics explored by real estate professionals at the second annual InterFace Houston Retail Real Estate conference. Crowds packed into the meeting rooms of the Royal Sonesta hotel in the city’s Galleria neighborhood on Tuesday, April 17 to hear about just how much new retail development the market can bear. Before retail development could catch up to the torrid pace of housing development, oil prices tanked, thousands of blue- and white-collar energy workers were laid off, housing prices …

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IF-Houston-MF-Conference

HOUSTON — After several years of sluggish rent growth, heavy concessions and tepid absorption brought on by the oil slump, investors are returning to Houston’s multifamily market with quite a bang. Rent growth and absorption were particularly weak in the city’s Class A multifamily space over the past few years. But with oil prices stabilizing (currently at about $68 per barrel of West Texas intermediate crude) and overall population growth still booming, multifamily investors are rethinking their positions on the Bayou City. “For the past two or three years, capital had been going elsewhere,” said Bruce McClenny, president of Houston-based research firm Apartment Data Services, during his keynote address at the second annual InterFace Houston Multifamily conference. “But that’s about to change.” Panelists at the event agreed that Houston’s construction pipeline for new apartments is thinning, stabilized properties are being brought to market and sellers are seeing more bids on assets they’re marketing. All this activity points to a previously overbuilt market turning the corner. Multifamily developers, lenders and brokers discussed these trends and others at the conference, held on Tuesday, April 17 at the Royal Sonesta Hotel in Houston’s Galleria neighborhood. The event drew about 150 real estate professionals. …

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HOUSTON — Much like the preferences of younger generations are influencing how retailers pick their locations and sizes, the whims of today’s office-using workforce significantly impact the way professional services companies view their office spaces. This is not strictly an amenities-based trend. It goes beyond adding fitness centers, walking trails and food trucks to cater to Millennial workers. It’s an evolution of the role that office space plays in company budgets and operations. For developers and brokers in the office sector, it means rethinking the ways in which they meet demand. A panel of veteran players in Houston’s embattled office market addressed this trend and others during the InterFace Houston Office Forecast on Feb 1. Approximately 150 real estate professionals attended the event, which was held at the Royal Sonesta hotel in the Galleria area of the city. Old Product Trails Trends Houston’s office market has been hobbled by high vacancy and negative absorption as a three-year slump in oil prices has taken a toll on Houston’s energy industry. In addition, the sector also suffers from a lack of modernized product. Panel moderator Rand Stephens, managing director at Avison Young, said the latter factor is increasing demand for build-to-suit projects …

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