Category: Central/South Texas

Development activity intensifies throughout Austin’s urban core

Posted on by ginger

Infill development presents some unique challenges compared with greenfield projects, such as confined spaces for staging, surrounding buildings to consider for design and more.

But that hasn’t stopped dozens of companies from launching infill projects in dense urban areas. The latest update to Austin Business Journal’s Crane Watch map encompasses 1,300-plus residential units and more than 900,000 square feet of ongoing construction across the area, including many in the urban core.

Click to read more at Austin Business Journal.

 

How Cushman & Wakefield has built up its new global brand in North Texas

Posted on by ginger

It’s been two years since Cushman & Wakefield merged with DTZ in a $2 billion mega-deal to create a new global real estate brokerage firm with the capability to compete with CBRE and JLL.

And it hasn’t been easy in North Texas to combine cultures from different firms under one real estate brokerage roof in Uptown, but the Dallas office has seemingly pulled it off with some of the region’s top brokers teaming up like never before.

“We have a lot of pieces that didn’t naturally fit together at first, but now they fit really well together,” said Ran Holman, the Dallas-Fort Worth market leader for Cushman & Wakefield.

Click to read more at Dallas Business Journal.

Plans unveiled for prime downtown Austin block: City’s largest skyscraper

Posted on by ginger

City documents show an initial plan for the redevelopment of a prime downtown Austin block by Trammell Crow Co. The 36-story office tower would have 665,000 square feet of offices — making it the city’s largest office skyscraper — plus restaurant and retail space.

It’s the first glimpse into the Dallas-based developer’s vision for the coveted block just north of Chase Bank Tower, and was first reported by Austin Towers.

The 1.75-acre site — surrounded by Colorado, West Sixth, Lavaca and West Seventh streets — is owned by the University of Texas System. The UT System used to occupy offices on the site, although it has nearly finished relocating across the street to a new headquarters tower.

Click to read more at Austin Business Journal.

Millions of square feet of Austin office space may shift in reported mega-deal by Brandywine

Posted on by ginger

One of the biggest deals in Austin real estate history could be unfolding behind the scenes — possibly affecting more than 2.7 million square feet.

Real Estate Alert, an insider real estate publication, reports that Brandywine Realty Trust (NYSE: BDN) and its Austin portfolio partner, DRA Advisors LLC, will sell five office properties in their joint venture to Starwood Capital Group, a Connecticut-based investment company.

Brandywine, the real estate investment trust headquartered in Pennsylvania and a big investor in Austin’s commercial market during the past five years, would also buy out New York-based DRA Advisors in the remaining properties held in partnership, according to the Sept. 27 Real Estate Alert report.

Click to read more at Austin Business Journal. 

Austin architect puts scenic Westlake retreat on market for nearly $4M

Posted on by ginger

Between designing K-12 schools and federal buildings, an accomplished Austin architect found time over the past two decades to turn a slice of Westlake hillside into a scenic retreat.

Now Marc Brewster is selling the 5-acre property at 1103 Ridgecrest Drive just east of Wild Basin Wilderness Preserve.

Brewster plans to retire, perhaps overseas, said Realtor Dave Murray, who has the listing. The property landed on the multiple listing serving Sept. 20 for $3.8 million after previously being marketed privately.

Brewster designed many of the property’s features, such as a 90,000-gallon natural pool, including a grotto with a cascading waterfall. The system cost about half a million dollars to build, Murray said.

Click to read more at Austin Business Journal.

Austin is best ‘non-gateway’ commercial real estate market in U.S., survey says

Posted on by ginger

Austin is the best non-gateway city in the U.S. for commercial real estate investment. That’s the consensus of DLA Piper’s annual State of the Market Survey.

The findings were released at the law firm’s Global Real Estate Summit held Sept. 26 in Chicago.

DLA Piper surveyed about 220 real estate executives from top real estate firms and some 45 percent of them said Austin — tied with Seattle — will perform the best in the year ahead as a commercial real estate investment. They didn’t factor in so-called gateway cities such as New York and Los Angeles.

Denver and Nashville tied for the next top cities, garnering 33 percent of the votes.

Click to read more at Austin Business Journal.