Market Reports

By Jane Witowich, business operations manager, Day One Experts In Collin County, two fast-growing Texas cities are charting a new path for economic development that prioritizes efficiency, adaptability and smart decision-making over traditional staffing models. Fairview and Melissa, a pair of suburban communities facing explosive population growth and mounting development pressure, have adopted a fractional approach to economic development. Instead of creating or adopting full-time, in-house departments, both cities have strategically partnered with outside expertise to stay visible in national site selection circles, foster new investment and keep costs in check. That decision, born out of necessity, is quickly proving to be a blueprint for others. A Model Rooted in Strategy The challenges faced by these teams in Fairview and Melissa are familiar to city leaders across Texas: developer interest is growing, expectations from residents are rising and yet budgets remain constrained. Hiring full-time economic development staff, building marketing infrastructure and funding national outreach campaigns — these initiatives often stretch beyond what smaller cities can reasonably afford. Rather than let those constraints define them, Fairview and Melissa made the deliberate choice to adopt a fractional model. Through partnerships with experienced consultants such as Day One Experts, led by veteran economic …

By Taylor Williams In 2016, the Dallas Cowboys went 13-3, finished in first place in the NFC and had five players earn All-Pro selections — arguably the team’s best season-long performance since its heyday in the 1990s.  That’s about all the reminiscing that this writer, who hails from Atlanta, cares to do on the 2016 NFL season. But is it purely coincidental that one of the Cowboys’ most dominant regular-season campaigns in the past three decades coincided with the opening of The Star, the team’s world headquarters and practice facility in Frisco? Perhaps. But for the North Texas region as a whole, the planting of the Cowboys flag outside of city limits marked a sort of coming-out party, a bold declaration that the areas north of the metroplex were primed for major job and population growth, as well as corresponding real estate development.  “When Frisco secured the Dallas Cowboys’ headquarters and The Star District in 2016, it seems to have led to a waterfall of momentum,” says Gloria Salinas, senior vice president and chief growth officer of the Frisco Economic Development Corp. “During that time, Frisco demonstrated an ability to align civic leadership with business priorities, accelerating timelines for that …

By Taylor Williams The municipalities that comprise Houston’s southeastern suburban rings are on the rise, fueled not only by the larger population growth that has defined Texas in the 21st century, but also by expanded commerce and real estate development tied to the ports of Houston and Galveston. These municipalities vary tremendously from one to the next with regard to their size, both land- and population-wise. In addition, they possess varying degrees of maturity in terms of their microeconomies and real estate markets. Yet among the four cities in this region that Texas Real Estate Business spoke with for this story — Alvin, Webster, League City and Nassau Bay — some commonalities exist within their economic development endeavors. These include drawing on growth in the hospitality sector from the Port of Galveston’s thriving cruise business, as well as preparing for future real estate opportunities that will emerge from infrastructural projects, most notably the expansion of State Highway 99, known locally as Grand Parkway.  As these cities work to expand their housing inventories, recruit new businesses and provide the ideal mixes of retail, restaurant and entertainment uses, they look to both traditional and new economic drivers. In doing so, they cultivate …