Houston Multifamily Occupancy, Rent Growth Return to Normal After Setbacks

Houston’s multifamily market has endured battles from all fronts in recent years: the oil slump, hurricanes, flooding, overbuilding in select submarkets, sluggish rent growth of late and lavish concessions to new renters that have been mainstays during this period. But the market now appears to be moving in the right direction with a sense of normalcy. From late 2014, when the oil downturn began, through the price bottoming in early 2016, Houston’s energy economy consistently made …

July 19, 2019Market Reports, Multifamily, Texas, Texas Market Reports

Mixed-Use Settings Permeate Houston Retail Market, Drive New Development

With higher costs of land and construction, increased demand for walkable environments and more acceptance of structured parking, mixed-use is finally becoming the norm rather than the exception as the backdrop for new retail development in metro Houston. Developers of all types recognize that quality retail enhances the value of all surrounding real estate. Apartment and office developers are utilizing retail areas as additional amenities to differentiate themselves from their competition. …

July 16, 2019Market Reports, Mixed-Use, Retail, Texas, Texas Market Reports

Commercial Lease Assignments: A Tale of Two Leases and A Landlord’s Right to Recapture

Commercial leases typically contain standard protections for landlords that may be potential pitfalls for tenants seeking to assign or transfer interests in a lease. A lease recapture provision permits a landlord to terminate a lease and “recapture” the leased premises when the tenant requests landlord’s consent to assign, sublease or transfer the lease. These recapture rights, which are frequently overlooked, can actually have shocking results for tenants. In order to assign a lease, …

July 9, 2019Market Reports, Texas, Texas Market Reports

Cold Storage Yet to Tap Full Potential

Across the country, natural population growth is triggering demand for more space for the manufacturing, processing, storing and distributing of food. Cold storage facilities cater to this demand by offering numerous types of warehousing solutions, from chilled spaces for dairy products and dry fruits and vegetables to freezer facilities for meat and seafood. Most major grocers are slowing their paces of new store openings while also developing their online delivery platforms, the latter of …

July 2, 2019Features, Industrial, Texas

Influx of Millennials Bolsters San Antonio’s Multifamily Fundamentals

An overwhelming number of residents are moving to San Antonio rather than leaving. The metro experienced a net in-migration of nearly 21,000 households in 2016, according to Moody’s Analytics, the latest data available at the time of this writing. [caption id="attachment_231260" align="alignright" width="100"] Michael Watson, San Antonio Commercial Advisors[/caption] The metro primarily draws from Austin and Houston with a notable cohort of new residents coming from Washington, D.C. …

June 28, 2019Market Reports, Multifamily, Texas, Texas Market Reports

Institutional Capital Doubles Down on San Antonio Industrial Market

For many years, San Antonio’s industrial sector was considered, at best, a lower-tiered secondary market for investment of institutional capital. But over the last 18 to 24 months, this market has seen a major increase in the amount of institutional funds competing for placement. According to the latest research from JLL, during the last 24 months, institutional buyers have acquired approximately 11 million square feet of industrial real estate in San Antonio. This investment activity …

June 25, 2019Industrial, Market Reports, Texas, Texas Market Reports

Office Developers Are Bullish on San Antonio’s Suburban Markets

Today, San Antonio’s downtown office market gets the most media exposure because new office development was nonexistent since the late 1980s and is recently picking up speed with the Pearl office buildings and Frost Tower. San Antonio’s low cost of doing business and strong population growth should lead to continued expansion in the office market citywide. What isn’t getting the attention is the fact that new development in the suburbs is still holding strong. Many companies expanding or …

June 21, 2019Market Reports, Office, Texas, Texas Market Reports

San Antonio Retail Market: We Want It All, and We Want It All Now

San Antonio has at times been characterized as “a big city with a small-town feel.” However, with an MSA surpassing 2 million people and a claim to being one of the country’s largest and fastest growing cities, the small-town feeling is fading quickly. With robust population growth, strong job numbers and a decade of prosperity to lean on, our retail business is more dynamic than ever. It should be of no surprise to this readership that like other areas of the country, San Antonio is …

June 18, 2019Market Reports, Retail, Texas, Texas Market Reports

Airports Shield Retailers From E-Commerce

E-commerce has cut through brick-and-mortar retail in a Darwinian fashion, establishing clear winners and losers and drastically re-shaping landlords’ approaches to leasing. Purveyors of certain soft goods — apparel, jewelry, electronics — have seen their footprints at malls and retail centers dwindle as online shopping has infiltrated American consumer behavior. But given a little financial credit and strong branding that integrates local culture, these same concepts can find success in …

June 14, 2019Market Reports, Retail, Texas, Texas Market Reports

Retail Lenders to Borrowers: Tell Me A Story

Lenders and borrowers alike have come to recognize some fundamental truths of the retail financing market in the e-commerce era: Most big box users need to right-size their store footprints and prototypes; new construction in urban settings needs food and entertainment components; and friendly loan terms are increasingly predicated on the sponsor’s track record. In Texas, direct lenders of all types have remained active in the retail arena, with certain capital sources aligning themselves …

June 11, 2019Market Reports, Retail, Texas, Texas Market Reports