The booming land market in north Texas reflects a convergence of economic and demographic trends resulting in a dramatic expansion of residential communities, new mixed-use developments and the transformation of retail centers across the region. The result is higher land values, shifting land uses and developers, planners and designers adapting to the evolving lifestyles of a new generation of workers. Demand for well-located land parcels across multiple property types is reaping handsome returns for landowners. The land market in Dallas/Fort Worth is experiencing strong transaction volume and record prices due to a range of factors. Developers are responding to strong housing demand by building new residential communities that are accessible to Dallas/Fort Worth employment centers. Multifamily construction continues as some 360 people move into the region daily, many not ready for home ownership. New mixed-use developments are catering to a steady stream of corporations relocating to the area and seeking work settings that provide live/work/eat/play environments. Neighborhood grocery stores and restaurants are multiplying to support growing demand, while regional malls are being repurposed as spending habits shift. These trends have played a major role in the growth of urban centers like Dallas’ central business district, Uptown Dallas and Fort Worth’s …
Success breeds success. That adage, more than any other, defines the Dallas-Fort Worth economy and its strong multifamily market. In the last five years, a number of companies, such as Toyota North America and Nationstar Mortgage, impressed by the advantages of doing business in Dallas-Fort Worth, have relocated their headquarters here. These companies were attracted by the area’s central location, equidistant from both coasts, as well as an educated workforce, a diverse economy and a favorable business climate. This year Jamba Juice, among other companies, took notice and announced that they are joining the migration to north Texas. Even companies not choosing to uproot their headquarters are expanding their presence in Dallas-Fort Worth. Early this year, JPMorgan Chase picked Plano’s Legacy West development for a new 6,000-employee campus, next door to Toyota as well as Liberty Mutual, which itself will add 5,000 workers to a huge new service center it is building there. Also this year, Fannie Mae announced it would move more than 1,000 workers to Plano, the medical giant McKesson revealed plans to add 1,000 office jobs in Irving and Pegasus Foods chose Rockwall for a new plant that will employ 300. The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas’ …
FARMERS BRANCH, TEXAS — Farmers Branch city manager Charles Cox has promoted Allison Cook to director of economic development and tourism for the city of Farmers Branch. Cook has been an employee of Farmers Branch since 2011, when she started the first city program focused on business retention. She was later promoted to economic development manager. The previous director of economic development and tourism John Land, has been promoted to deputy city manager. Cook previously worked for Catalyst Commercial, a real estate analytics company, and was also the leasing manager for another commercial real estate company focused on retail development in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.
Growth. It is occurring all across the Rio Grande Valley. From the residential sector to the retail development industry, regional statistics indicate there is an overwhelming boom in the Valley. The rise in the region’s population and the increasing number of yearly visits from Mexican nationals, among other factors, are contributing to the boom. The Rio Grande Valley commercial real estate industry has seen steady, consistent growth over the last two years. National retailers looking to incorporate themselves into the local economy or expand their existing business include Main Event Entertainment, Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers, Menchie’s Frozen Yogurt, Dave & Busters, Dick’s Sporting Goods, HomeGoods, Chick-fil-A and Walmart. Local and international retailers including Super Cream Restaurant & Bakery, Kurai Sushi Buffet, and Dona Tota are also expanding in the region. Other entities helping to spur growth in the commercial real estate industry are the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) campuses in Edinburg, Harlingen and Brownsville, and a number of large investment retail projects in the upper and mid-valley including the development of the 8,500-seat Bert Ogden Arena in Hidalgo County. Impact of UTRGV The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley is less than two years old and boasts …
Last summer, NAI Rio Grande Valley and Michael Uhrbrock, senior vice president of research at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, examined eight Rio Grande Valley cities to examine the history of retail sales between 2002 and 2014 and to forecast the future. The cities examined were McAllen, Brownsville, Harlingen, Edinburg, Pharr, Weslaco, Mission and Mercedes. We were working on a piece for the Rio Grande Valley Partnership’s Economic Development magazine. What we learned is quite interesting and presents an unusual view into the future potential for retail expansion in the Rio Grande Valley. Total retail sales in the eight cities increased $4.47 billion between 2002 and 2014. Forecasting the future required a view of low, median and high ranges of potential sales. Based on the high projections, it is anticipated that valley sales in these cities will increase by $13.68 billion between 2015 and 2030. A number of factors go into the results, but several factors are expected contribute to the expected increases. Growth in Many Sectors With 1,450,000 residents, the population of the Rio Grande Valley today is larger than that of nine states. Forecasts show the population will grow to 2.5 million by 2040, which does …
The downturn in the upstream oil and gas industry, caused by the low prices of these commodities, has been the subject of continuous examination and prognostication since its onset in late 2014, particularly in the Houston region. Though it has diversified its economy somewhat since the 1980s, when its overdependence on that industry brought ruin to its economy, Houston remains the large Texas metro most economically tied to oil and gas. Houston benefited from those ties from 2011 to 2014, during the period of surging fortunes in that sector, by adding 380,000 jobs. However, because this tremendous boom in employment was less economically diversified than the region’s overall economy, when upstream oil and gas abruptly switched from growth to contraction, so did the region’s growth prospects. Houston’s other economic sectors at this point are not growing substantially enough to keep net growth strongly positive in terms of jobs. So far they are merely keeping the region in an essentially stagnant condition. The Push for Amenities All sectors of Houston-area real estate have felt an impact from this reversal, but to varying extents. The apartment market, which is traditionally among the sectors most directly tied to current employment levels, is receiving …
DALLAS — New York-based Fortis Property Group has purchased Chase Tower in downtown Dallas from Hines, a privately owned real estate investment firm based in Houston. The 55-story, 1.3 million-square-foot tower is located on a 1.5-acre site at 2200 Ross Ave. in the city’s central business district. According to the Dallas Business Journal, the tower sold for “upwards of $300 million.” The skyscraper was built in 1987. Architect Richard Keating designed the building. Though it was recently renovated, Fortis plans additional upgrades. “It is always exciting to acquire a premier and iconic skyline office tower,” says Jonathan Laudau, CEO of Fortis. “In line with our strategy to purchase best-in-class properties, Chase Tower represents the best of downtown Dallas and the Arts District. We anticipate upgrading the Ross Avenue curb appeal and building accessibility as well as the foodservice amenities at the property.” J.J. Leonard and Matthew Wieser of Stream Realty Partners’ office division in Dallas will lead leasing efforts for the property. Amenities at the Class A property include the Dallas Petroleum Club, conferencing/lounge facilities, a fitness center, concierge in the main lobby, Chase Bank retail banking facility, Starbucks, free Wi-Fi in the mezzanine, 24-hour security and a full-service car wash. …
Outsiders looking at the Houston industrial real estate market may automatically presume doom and gloom for all commercial real estate segments due to the significant downturn in the oil and gas industry during 2015 and 2016. When it comes to the Houston industrial sector, we caution not to jump to that conclusion too fast! In 2016, the Houston regional economy has much more going for it that creates industrial real estate demand than simply oil and gas. Momentum from economic drivers not dependent upon the oil and gas industry are stabilizing industrial real estate. They are also helping counter the drag on the area’s economy that may be attributed to excess inventory and price deflation in oil and gas. Through the end of the year, we expect activity in industrial leasing to remain relatively stable and to offer rental rates that are comparable to early 2016. Our confidence in the stability of industrial real estate is partially based on our fundamental understanding about segmentation in the energy industry that directly impacts Houston’s industrial real estate utilization. Oil and gas is not a simple, homogenous industry with all segments moving in lock step. Clearly, the energy downturn has hit oil and …
Although Houston’s local economy is not exclusively dependent on oil and gas, re-energizing this sector will be key to a multifamily rebound in the area. Since the downturn in oil prices over the last two years, Houston’s multifamily market has been one of the most impacted victims of the area’s economic slowdown. Oil and gas is estimated to represent about one-fifth of Houston’s economy. This does not include construction and other new development that depends on the oil and gas industry. The Houston market’s annual rent growth rate is well below the national average of 4.1 percent, according to Axiometrics’ Houston-area Market Performance Survey. From the fourth quarter of 2015 to the first quarter of 2016, the annual growth rate in Houston’s multifamily sector was only 0.8 percent. The annual effective rent growth in the area is forecast to be 2.4 percent in 2017 and is expected to average 3.6 percent from 2018 to 2020. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, job growth in the Houston metro area was 0.3 percent in April 2016, reflecting 10,000 jobs added during the preceding 12-month period. The metro job growth figure was below the national number of 1.9 percent. Limited Demand On …
Most of us have read articles or seen reports that suggest we are building too many apartment units in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. Thus, we potentially could have a surplus of multifamily units resulting in lower occupancies and stabilizing rents (sorry to all the apartment renters — don’t anticipate rents going down). Let’s review historical data and trends, then see if we are truly overbuilding. Over the past 22 years, an average of 29,542 single-family building permits were issued annually across the Dallas/Fort Worth area. However, the figure fell to 22,678 on average from 2011 to 2015. Thus, over the past five years there were 34,320 less single-family units delivered than what the market has historically absorbed. In comparison, multifamily permits (those of two or more units) have averaged 14,094 annually over the past 22 years, and 18,417 annually from 2011 to 2015. Over the past three years, 2013 through 2015, the average increased for both single-family (25,937) and multifamily (21,231). The combined average of 47,168 permits over the last three years is above the 22-year average of 43,636 permits. Multifamily permits have most likely increased as a result of a significant decrease in single-family permits. We have only recently …