RW’s TX CRE Brief: 06/25/21
Did you know? Texas is the #1 U.S. Exporter for 19 years in a row. $279B in 2020!
This week’s newsletter includes:
1) TX specific deals, announcements and news.
2) Other news of interest
3) Economic data & policy
4) Book, courses, podcasts – Recommendations
5) Event Highlights
6) Upcoming Events
7) New Contacts & Followers
1) DEALS / ANNOUNCEMENTS / NEWS
AUSTIN
Looks like Bastrop might have a film studio in its future! NewsTalk Texas and the Austin Business Journal report that the Bastrop city council unanimously approved a development agreement and concept plan for Bastrop 552, a 546-acre private entertainment hub and film studio.
REBusinessOnline shares that Newmark brokered the sale of Rio West, a 384 bed student housing community near the campus of UT Austin.
Austin Business Journal reports that the Palm District Planning Initiative is underway for the area eastern edge of downtown. Feedback process is underway with adoption slated for Spring 2022.
Austin Business Journal reports that more than a few HQ’s moving to the Austin area, with CA, FL and NY companies such as 240Tech, Green Dot Corp, Einride AB, Invzbl LLC, BlockCap, Markaaz, City Shoppe, XR Masters, Elevate Brands, Harmonate, and Digital Realty Trust among many others moving to Central TX.
DFW/METROPLEX
Dallas Morning News reports that The Enclave, an 11-acre project is underway in Frisco. The low-density campus is being built just north of Legacy West.
NewsTalk Texas and the Dallas Morning News share that an investment fund created by Crescent Real Estate has purchased the Ritz-Carlton on McKinney Ave. for $700 million.
Another NY developer landing in Texas. ConnectCRE shares that RockFarmer Properties recently acquired two adjacent gated garden-style multifamily rental communities, 98Fifty and Apex in Dallas. It is RockFarmer’s entry into the DFW market.
HOUSTON
Houston Business Journal reports that Gauge Real Estate Partners has been founded by Brian Attaway and Jeff Pate. (Trammel Crow and Stream respectively). The new firm will focus on redeveloping existing properties to provide space for neighborhood retail, offices, “last mile” distribution and urban mixed-use concepts. Guage Website
The Houston Chronicle reports that CBRE is forecasting an increase in remote work and a 9% decrease in office space per worker, with Houston office asking rents not fully recovering until 2025.
NewsTalk Texas reports that Equus Capital Partners Ltd. has purchased Park 845 Crossing, a five-building industrial park between I-45 and Beltway 8 in Houston. JLL Capital Markets represented both the buyer and seller, and it also arranged the financing.
SAN ANTONIO
REBusinessOnline shares that a partnership between Chicago-based Pearlmark and Austin-based Old Three Hundred Capital LLC has purchased two adjacent multifamily properties – Park West and Parliament Bend – in a value-add play.
ConnectCRE reports that Zachry Construction & Materials will soon move its headquarters to Walker Ranch Business Park, Worth & Associates’ 150,000-square-foot office park at 14410 Wurzbach Pkwy. in San Antonio’s north-central submarket.
2) OTHER NEWS OF INTEREST
The State of Texas Economic Development & Tourism Office (EDT) posted a couple of nice graphics regarding Fortune 500 Companies in TX and Texas at a Glance.
Bisnow reports that more and more CRE firms are pouring money into the PropTech sector.
Paladino reports that the US Green Building Council has released guidance on LEED re-certification for buildings that had occupancy issues due to Covid. FYI - As of June 6th, 2021 there are over 3,000 LEED rated buildings in TX with public information available.
Wondering where all the people moving to Texas are going to live? You should be! The Texas Real Estate Research Center shares that existing home sales prices are increasing while inventory is shrinking.
3) ECONOMIC DATA & POLICY
U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis reports that Q1:2021 Gross Domestic Product grew by 6.4%.
Texas A&M Real Estate Research Center: Texas Weekly Index reports that things are pointing toward higher future economic activity with a significant increase in new business applications.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that unemployment in May was lower in 28 states. Texas was #3 in the nation for Nonfarm Payroll for both the month, and for a year-over-year comparison. NewsTalk Texas has additional reporting on the Texas Job Recovery as well.
Both the US House and Senate have passed, and the President is expected to sign, legislation to overturn the OCC’s “True Lender” rule. Both the National Law Review and Crowdfund Insider give color on the proposed change.
4) BOOKS, COURSES, PODCASTS, & OTHER RECOMMENDATIONS
The Ralph Bivens Project posted a great interview with CBRE Houston’s Mark Taylor. Taylor is Market Leader for CBRE's Houston Investor Services businesses, including leasing, Capital Markets, Debt & Structured Finance, and Asset Services. As Ralph said, “he knows a ton of stuff!”
JLL research podcast, hosted by James Cook, recently addressed the topic “How Will clean energy projects impact commercial real estate?” Mike Bammel and Bryan Thomas took part in the discussion.
Sandler’s “How To Succeed Podcast” this week featured Mike Montague interviewing Mark Herschberg, author of Career Toolkit: Essential Skills for Success that No One Taught You.” Takeaways: Small incremental improvements will bring massive ROI on your overall success. Peer learning groups will help you cement foundational skills. Change your mindset.
5) EVENT HIGHLIGHTS
I attended Bisnow’s Digital Summit, “Why Texas Real Estate: Supporting Another Decade of Growth” this week. It was a great event with wonderful panels, well moderated, and informative. If you have a chance to catch a replay, I highly recommend it.
The “Legends in CRE” panel was as good as it gets and was illustrative of much of what the day had in store. It included Craig Hall, the founder of Hall Group. Mike Lafitte, Global CEO of CBRE investments and CEO of Trammel Crow. Mike Berry, President of Hillwood. Larry Heard, CEO of Transwestern. And, Lucy Billingsley, Partner Billingsley Company. Some key insights:
1. All five were bullish on the future of Texas and especially in their areas of expertise.
2. No one in the group is planning to slow down their efforts.
3. Inflationary pressures were taken in stride, with commodities seen as being affected by pricing greatly affected by throughput.
4. Post Covid, a wellness attitude will permeate going forward with added wellness and health elements becoming standards. (UV filtration, touchless elevators & doors)
5. Multi-family and industrial will continue in high demand.
6. Corporate re-locations will continue with current tailwinds seen as the strongest in 40-years.
7. Dallas is the hottest market in the country, with smaller cities in the area doing a very good job at marketing and differentiating themselves. (Plano, Frisco, Irving…) Austin, with is tech focus will not cool down anytime soon. Houston, still an energy city, has taken the lead in energy-tech. Also, is a significant international and HQ market. San Antonio will continue to be steady and will lead the way in cyber-security.
8. Its all about talent with the ability to recruit and retain being essential. Public education needs to drive workforce preparedness, starting in K-12. Corporations need to help with “human infrastructure” and also integrate into communities.
9. Suburban development will be strong and filled with “urban nodes” as live/work/play remains essential as quality-of-life markers.
10. Future technology, renewable energy (batteries & solar, not wind), mobility and other innovations will be key going forward.
6) UPCOMING EVENTS & IMPORTANT DATES
July 29: VIRTUAL. InterFace. Impact Investing: ESG/C-PACE/Brownfield Remediation
July 1: AUSTIN. Austin Business Journal. Commercial Real Estate Awards nomination deadline. #ASJCREA.
July 13: DALLAS. Bisnow. “The Evolution of DFW Office: The State of the DFW Office Market After the Pandemic.”
July 13-15: AUSTIN. InterFace. Student Housing Conference.
July 20: DALLAS. Dallas Business Journal. 40-Under-40 awards virtual event.
July 21: AUSTIN. Bisnow. “The Future of Downtown Austin: Iconic Projects, Urban Development, Connectivity & Creating a Competitive CBD.”
July 22: HOUSTON. Houston Business Journal. The State of Commercial Real Estate, Retail with Annjee Solanki, National Retail Director for Colliers.
7) NEW TX CONTACTS AND FOLLOWERS – THANK YOU AND HELLO
#PatrickBuckoff, #ChrisLove, #PatrickLey, #RebeccasSigrist, #JeffJohnson, #RichardGreeg, #AnthonyImburgia, #KentMyers, #JordanFeatherton, #VolneyCampbell
THANKS EVERYONE!
I hope you enjoyed this week’s TX-CRE-Brief. If you see something that might be of interest and should be included in a future brief, please send it along via DM on LinkedIn or by e-mail to TXSales.Leadership@pm.me.
And please, by all means, support the sources I link to above.