Texas

Development of new office space in the McAllen-Edinburg-Mission metro area rarely happens on a large scale. This ensures that the market remains steady, if unspectacular, assuming the fundamentals during both expansions and contractions do not change. According to CoStar Group, the metro’s office vacancy rate currently stands at 6 percent, while the average asking rent sits at $20.44 per square foot. Modest vacancy compression and rent growth are forecast for the coming years, with the vacancy and average asking rents expected to hit 4.2 percent and $21.30 per square foot, respectively, by 2023. Throughout the Rio Grande Valley (RGV) region as a whole, office market growth is largely confined to McAllen and Edinburg. There is one signature project — Rio Bank’s new corporate headquarters in McAllen — that will serve as a barometer of how well the market can large additions of quality space. According to local newspaper The Valley Morning Star, the 125,469-square-foot project carries a price tag of $20 million. Construction began in January 2018 and is slated to open either late this year or early in 2020, with the namesake tenant expected to occupy about a third of the space. Per local sources, the property, which is …