Texas & Oklahoma Feature Archive

Universities, Student Housing Properties Face Hurricane Harvey

by John Nelson August 31, 2017

HOUSTON AND COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS — Hurricane Harvey has brought massive amounts of rain, flooding and destruction to southern Texas, but reports show that on- and off-campus student housing properties have largely escaped the worst of the damage. The Texas Tribune reports that colleges in Houston have cancelled class and evacuated some student housing as the rain continues to fall and floodwaters continue to rise. About three buildings on the University of Houston campus have taken on water, and 140 students were evacuated from Bayou Oaks, a university-owned, off-campus apartment complex for older and international students. Most universities in Houston — such as Rice University and Victoria College — reported minor damage including leaks and power outages. Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi also reported minor structural damage, according to The Texas Tribune. The first day of classes has been pushed to September 5. Texas A&M University’s Kingsville and College Station campuses also reported no major building damage or flooding, and plan to begin classes early next week. Servitas reports that Park West — a 3,406-bed student housing community developed through a public-private partnership with Texas A&M University in College Station — did not receive any damage or leakage during the storm. The …

August 31, 2017

Features Texas Texas & Oklahoma Feature Archive

Are You Leaving Property Tax Savings on the Table?

by Taylor Williams July 26, 2017

Suing to appeal an unsatisfactory appraisal review board decision is straightforward in Texas. The state property tax system provides taxpayers with a pragmatic approach to air their valuation disputes before the courts, without the delay and headache frequently experienced in other types of litigation. Yet many taxpayers choose not to appeal, relinquishing the opportunity to achieve significant tax savings. Do not be so shortsighted. Texans enjoy one of the most fair property tax protest systems in the country, beginning with the right to contest their appraised values through an administrative process. If they do not like the result, they can file a lawsuit that provides a fresh start, turning the valuation issue over to a judge or jury, whichever the parties prefer. And if the taxpayer is unsatisfied with the court’s decision, he or she can seek review from a state appellate court and even the State Supreme Court. Not all states provide such a favorable review process. Texas is special. Built into the Texas Tax Code are processes and requirements that make litigating property tax appeals more efficient and less procedurally burdensome for taxpayers, even if an appeal advances to the state’s highest court. Here are a few of …

July 26, 2017

Features Retail Texas Texas & Oklahoma Feature Archive Top Stories

InterFace Panel: Parking Spaces Present New Opportunities for Developers

by Taylor Williams May 3, 2017

HOUSTON — As e-commerce continues its siege of brick-and-mortar retail, shopping center developers in Houston are re-evaluating and repurposing the space currently allotted for parking. Virtually all centers are seeing reduced need for parking space, which creates opportunities to reclaim that space for more efficient uses, like adding another in-line store. At the InterFace Houston Retail conference on April 18, moderated by David Luther of Marcus & Millichap, industry experts spoke at length about how retail developers are cutting their parking allotments in strip centers and power centers alike, largely because of convenience-oriented technologies. Apps like Postmates and TaskRabbit have made it possible to outsource running errands to other people. Online grocery delivery services like Instacart and Shipt allow customers to do their shopping with a few quick clicks. Even Uber has gotten into the game with delivery features like UberRUSH for errands and UberEATS for meals. According to Tom Lile, president of retail development firm Gulf Coast Commercial Group and a conference panelist, such products and services have already begun to influence Houston developers’ thoughts on parking. “Fifteen years ago, if you were building a power center, you absolutely had to have five parking spaces per 1,000 square feet …

May 3, 2017

Features Office Texas Texas & Oklahoma Feature Archive Uncategorized

Business Parks Energize the Lone Star State

by Jaime Lackey April 15, 2017

Speculative development and e-commerce tenant demands are driving forces in Dallas and Houston’s industrial markets. By Brian Lee The biggest developments in the biggest state in the lower 48 are making big news: industrial business parks in Texas’ top markets continue to show strong development and leasing activity. Cushman & Wakefield shared a “very encouraging” industrial outlook on the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area. With slightly less than 24 million square feet of absorption in 2016, market demand continues to outpace supply, which included 22 million square feet of new construction last year. PwC and Urban Land Institute ranked the metro second nationally for real estate prospects in 2017 and fulfillment centers No. 1 in both the development and investment categories, ahead of 23 other property types. “The evolution of the e-commerce sector continues to shape the industrial market as a whole,” says Adam Hammack, senior director of Industrial Agency Leasing in Cushman & Wakefield’s Dallas office. Site selection factors for large e-commerce users comprise fresh building functionality, modern infrastructure and the ability to attract and retain labor, which includes nearby transit and retail options for industrial park personnel, according to Hammack. Focusing on the effects of the energy downturn doesn’t …

April 15, 2017

Conference Coverage Multifamily Texas Texas & Oklahoma Feature Archive Top Stories

Apartment Locators, Property Managers in Houston Cash In On Rent Slump, Say InterFace Panelists

by Taylor Williams April 13, 2017

HOUSTON — While it’s not an ideal time to be a multifamily property owner in Houston, it is a good time to be working on behalf of one. With their clients sitting on excess supply, apartment locators — middlemen who match tenant preferences to properties — are being increasingly called upon to deliver tenants. Locators work on commission, typically earning about 20 percent of the first month’s rent for their services. But in Houston’s soft market, that figure is rapidly rising. Ricardo Rivas, chief investment officer at Allied Orion Group and one of several panelists who spoke at the InterFace Houston Multifamily conference on March 28, noted that while locators are costly, the services they provide in a down market are crucial. “They [locators] are our best friends right now,” Rivas said to 175 industry professionals who gathered at the Royal Sonesta Hotel. “We reach out to them, we throw them parties and we give them big incentives to bring tenants over.” Todd Marix, a senior managing partner in HFF’s Houston office who spoke on an earlier panel, addressed the rising operating costs that landlords are facing. In his view, fees paid to apartment locators are quietly doing major damage …

April 13, 2017

Multifamily Student Housing Texas Texas & Oklahoma Feature Archive Top Stories

InterFace Student Housing Brings Industry Executives to Austin

by Taylor Williams April 11, 2017

AUSTIN, TEXAS — Over 1,200 leaders from across all facets of the student housing industry descended on Austin last week for the 9th annual InterFace Student Housing conference, held at the J.W. Marriott. The conference concluded April 7 after two-and-a-half days of networking and educational sessions on topics ranging from the state of the industry, to leasing and marketing, development and design. While the industry is evolving, sunny skies continue to be the forecast for years to come. Rising rental rates are coupled with record-breaking levels of asset sales, and an increase in institutional and foreign investment, further legitimizing the sector. The conference kicked off Wednesday, April 5, with the 6th annual SHB Open Golf Outing at Barton Creek Resort & Spa, and then moved to the third floor of the J.W. Marriott Austin, where a record-breaking number of attendees met to network and dine over a range of industry topics. The afternoon began with a round of Speed Networking, where over 100 industry experts participated in short, four-minute conversations designed to spur discussion and foster new relationships. The group then moved into 25 InterFace+ Info Roundtables on topics ranging from the possible obsolescence of interior amenities, to international student housing opportunities and …

April 11, 2017

Conference Coverage Features Multifamily Texas Texas & Oklahoma Feature Archive Top Stories

Millennials in Houston Multifamily Driver’s Seat, Say InterFace Panelists

by Taylor Williams April 4, 2017

Tenant concessions, ranging from free rent to complimentary carpet cleanings to distribution of gift cards, have become the norm in Houston’s multifamily market over the last few years. And according to several industry experts who spoke at the InterFace Houston Multifamily Conference on March 28, it’s the millennials who are taking advantage of them. Houston has become an especially attractive destination for millennials in recent years. According to a survey by JAXUSA Partnership, which tracks demographic trends throughout major metros, between 2010 and 2013, the metro ranked sixth in population growth of residents age 20 to 29. Tenants receive fewer concessions in submarkets without a lot of new construction. In Houston, this primarily means suburbs — The Woodlands, Pearland, and Katy. In submarkets closer to downtown, where there is generally more construction, concessions have come to serve as bargaining chips for prospective renters. For Houston landlords, operating in a market where concessions have become standard has made lease renewals harder to come by. Stacy Hunt, executive director of multifamily development and management firm Greystar, sees a direct correlation between millennials and lease renewals. “Properties in [sub]markets where you have a lot of millennials — Downtown, Heights, Washington Avenue — it’s tougher …

April 4, 2017

Conference Coverage Features Multifamily Texas Texas & Oklahoma Feature Archive Top Stories

Job Growth, Oil Stability to Spur Houston Multifamily Rebound, Predicts Data Researcher

by Taylor Williams March 30, 2017

Tumbling rents, landlord concessions and weakening levels of absorption have defined Houston’s multifamily market for much of the duration of the oil bust that spanned from late 2014 to mid-2016, but the multifamily market is now on the mend, says a third-party multifamily data analyst. Bruce McClenny, president of Apartment Data Services, which tracks the vital signs of nearly 3,000 multifamily properties nationwide, believes Houston’s multifamily market is about nine months past the rock-bottom point. As the opening speaker at the Interface Houston Multifamily Conference before 170 industry professionals on Tuesday, March 28, McLenny explained why he believes that a turnaround, albeit a slow one, has already begun. “The first six months of 2016 was the bottom, economically,” McLenny said during the conference, which was held March 28 at the Royal Sonesta Hotel in Houston’s Galleria neighborhood. “Things have gotten better from that moment on. There’s absorption out there. Through the first two months of this year, we had more than 1,900 units absorbed.” In 2016, submarkets on the city’s south and east sides — Pearland West, Baytown, Pasadena, Galveston — fared markedly better than submarkets in other parts of town, according to McLenny. All four of these submarkets attained positive …

March 30, 2017

Features Texas & Oklahoma Feature Archive Top Stories

Building To Suit Population Growth

by Taylor Williams March 23, 2017

Commercial real estate construction follows increases in population, and Texas has hit a growth spurt. In May 2016, the U.S. Census Bureau reported that five of 11 of the nation’s fastest-growing cities — Georgetown, New Braunfels, Frisco, Pearland and Pflugerville — are in Texas. The state’s metro areas, and the surrounding suburbs fueling this growth, are seeing construction in several sectors. High-end multifamily is popular throughout Texas. In Houston, hotels were being constructed in anticipation of the Super Bowl. In North Dallas, multifamily and retail are expanding to serve corporate growth, while industrial and manufacturing buildings are being constructed to serve transportation hubs south of the Metroplex. “We are seeing a lot of growth all over the state,” says Srinath Pai Kasturi, vice president and general manager of the central Texas division of Cadence McShane Construction. “Over the past four to five years, Texas has been fortunate to have seen a large influx of people from other states, and that has stimulated growth.” Texas added more than 1.8 million jobs from 2004 to 2014 —the most in the United States and 2.5 times California’s total change, according to Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts’ analysis of data from Economic Modeling Specialists, International. …

March 23, 2017

Features Mixed-Use Texas & Oklahoma Feature Archive Top Stories

Texas Developers Bet on Entertainment

by Jeff Shaw January 31, 2017

Recognizing that today’s retail environment stresses experience over shopping, developers of mixed-use communities in Texas are more frequently signing entertainment-oriented tenants to spaces that traditionally would have been reserved for department stores and inline soft goods retailers. Developers pursue different types of entertainment tenants, depending on the projects, their locations and their audience. All of the projects leverage a growing number of new options in the food and beverage category, including food halls, artisan markets and re-imagined restaurants and bars. Boutique movie theaters and bowling lounges — concepts that also strive to give patrons a unique food-and-beverage experience — are in demand, and are in expansion mode. Many landlords are adding specialty gyms or health-oriented services like yoga venues. And when it comes to pure retail, developers are enlisting operators that provide a differentiated customer experience across all categories, from beauty supply to sporting goods. For example, in 2015 beauty goods retailer Sephora launched in-store technology and education initiatives to enhance the customer experience, while newer Scheels sporting goods locations typically feature an indoor Ferris wheel, aquarium and other interactive attractions. Mixed-use developers are also creating Wi-Fi accessible public spaces with artistic and landscaping elements where customers, residents or workers …

January 31, 2017

Newer Posts

Older Posts