Monthly apartment rents might be growing at a slower pace, but they are still too high for a large chunk of U.S. renters.

According to the Cost Burden Report released by Apartment List earlier this month, 51.8% of all renter households in the United States as of last year were spending more than 30% of their incomes on rent.

That’s an important figure: Many financial experts say that households should not spend more than 30% of their gross monthly income on housing costs. But according to the Apartment List study, 22 million renter households were spending more than this on their monthly apartment rent as of the end of 2023.

That is an increase of 226,000 since 2022 and represents an all-time high in the United States.

The situation is even worse for many renters. Apartment List found that 11.2 million, or 26.4% of all U.S. renter households, are severely cost-burdened, meaning that they are spending more than half of their gross monthly income on rent.

The numbers show, too, that just 48% of U.S. renter households are hitting the goal of spending less than 30% of their income on housing.

Why are so many renters facing this challenge? Apartment List pointed to the record-setting growth of apartment rents that took place in 2021 and 2022. Even though rent growth has since moderated, renters’ incomes have not caught up to the boom in rental prices.

The situation is not as bad in all parts of the country, though. Apartment List reported that all 10 of the 100 largest metropolitan areas with the greatest percentage of cost-burdened renters were in either Florida or California.

Des Moines, Iowa, has the nation’s lowest renter cost-burden rate among the United States’ 100 largest metropolitan areas. But, as Apartment List points out, even here 43% of renters were spending more than 30% of their gross monthly income on rent as of the end of 2023 and more than one in five were spending more than 50%.

Other Midwest cities ranking among the 10 with the lowest percentage of cost-burdened renters were Toledo, Ohio; Wichita, Kansas; and Omaha, Nebraska.

StreetLevel Investments, a Texas-based developer, broke ground on Village at Gateway, a 120-acre mixed-use development in Forney, Texas. 

Located at North Gateway Boulevard and U.S. Highway 80 in the 2,000-acre Gateway master planned development, Phase 1 will feature 500,000 square feet of premium retail and is expected to open summer 2026.

Designed by GFF with Ridgemont Commercial Construction serving as the general contractor, the much-anticipated Village at Gateway will be anchored by Target (144,000 square feet), Home Depot (135, 000 square feet) and H-E-B (130,000 square feet) and will feature an additional 120,000 square feet of retail, service, and restaurant concepts curated to meet the needs of Forney residents. 

It will also include nine outparcels, future multi-family residential, and is designed to provide connectivity to Texas Health Resources’ 50-acre medical campus planned immediately west of the project.  Phase 2 is planned to deliver an additional 200,000 square feet of retail with tenant announcements expected in the near future. 

David Copeland and Ryan Griffin of Edge Realty Partners are handling retail leasing and sales at the property. 

Black Friday sales activity rose this year both online and in brick-and-mortar stores. But online sales saw a far bigger increase than in-person shopping, according to research from Mastercard.

According to Mastercard’s SpendingPulse, Black Friday sales at physical stores grew by just 0.7% this year when compared to Black Friday a year earlier. But
online sales grew 14.6% this Black Friday, Mastercard reported

Black Friday spending overall rose 3.4% on a year-over-year basis, according to Mastercard’s SpendingPulse. This trend should continue throughout the holiday shopping season, which this year runs from Nov. 1 through Dec. 24. Mastercard said that it expects total retail sales during this year’s holiday shopping season to increase 3.2% on a year-over-year basis.

In more evidence that consumers were happy to spend online this Black Friday, Adobe Inc. reported that U.S. shoppers spend about $10.8 billion online last Friday. That figure is up 10.2% from the amount that online shoppers spent a year earlier.

Adobe identified Bluetooth speakers, makeup products and espresso machines as some of this Black Friday’s most popular online purchases.

Salesforce, though, said that online spending was even higher, reporting that U.S. shoppers spent $17.5 billion online on Black Friday, up 7% on a year-over-year basis. Salesforce said that global online spending reached a new high of $74.4 billion last Friday, up 5% from a year earlier.

 Moss Construction and Shiloh Place celebrated the groundbreaking of a new housing project that will double the capacity of Shiloh Place in McKinney, Texas.

The new facility, approximately 16,641 square feet, will replace the existing 50- to 60-year-old buildings with modern housing, giving the organization the ability to now house 16 families. This project underscores Shiloh Place’s commitment to providing much-needed support to single mothers striving for financial stability and independence. 

Shiloh Place’s mission is to equip single mothers with financial independence and personal wholeness by addressing their physical, educational, emotional and spiritual needs enabling them to become productive members of the workforce and their community.  Moss Construction, the general contractor on the Shiloh Place housing development, is doing its part to support Shiloh Place by proudly donating its project fee to the organization as part of its commitment to giving back to the DFW market and McKinney and helping others.  

Designed by O’Brien Architects, the building will include 16 two-bedroom apartments, each with a bathroom and full-sized kitchen. The apartments surround an outdoor area that includes green space and playgrounds for the children. Other project partners include: Kimley-Horn, civil planning and landscaping; Jordan & Skala Engineers, mechanical, electrical and plumbing engineering; and Strand, structural engineering. 

 JLL Capital Markets announced today that it has completed the sale of Energy Crossing II, a 327,404-square-foot office building in Houston’s Energy Corridor.

JLL represented the seller in the sale of the property to Capital Commercial Investments, Inc.

Completed in 2014, Energy Crossing II is an eight-story property offering some of the highest quality available office space in the Energy Corridor. The property offers flexible floorplates averaging 42,648 square feet that can accommodate a variety of single or multi-user configurations and features amenities, including a fitness center and on-site parking garage. Overall, the building is approximately 30% leased and is positioned to capitalize on the “flight-to-quality” trend occurring across the office market.

Energy Crossing II is situated on a 5.47-acre site at 15011 Katy Freeway in the heart of Houston’s Energy Corridor. The property has visibility and immediate access to Interstate 10, providing connections to Beltway 8 and Westpark Tollway as well as downtown Houston, the Galleria and the George Bush Intercontinental Airport. Additionally, Energy Crossing II is close to some of Houston’s most prestigious residential areas, including The Villages, Briar Forest and River Oaks. West Houston has been recognized as the number one leasing submarket in the nation, fueled by the diverse economy consisting of energy, life sciences, manufacturing, logistics and aerospace companies.

The JLL Capital Markets Investment Sales and Advisory team representing the seller was led by Managing Director Kevin McConn and Senior Director Rick Goings.

In an era when online shopping has transformed consumer habits, Texas retail developers are finding innovative ways to draw shoppers back to physical spaces. One standout approach: integrating experiential elements like interactive fountains and themed environments that immerse visitors and encourage lingering.
“Since the pandemic, there has been a significant shift towards creating experiences for retail shoppers, to give consumers a compelling reason to visit a brick-and-mortar store that they can’t get online,” said Sarah Shores, Vice President of Administration at Outside the Lines, Inc. (OTL). Shores shared that OTL’s water features and show fountains, seen in high-profile Texas retail centers, are designed not only to beautify but to transform these spaces into destinations.
“We’re seeing outdoor centers and even older shopping malls invest and reinvest in amenities, including water features, to help create a unique and immersive experience consumers won’t find from behind a screen at home,” Shores explained.

Texas’s strong retail performance, with major cities such as Austin, DallasFort Worth (DFW), Houston and San Antonio boasting occupancy rates above 95%, underscores the sector’s adaptability. Developers have increasingly turned to experiential features to meet shifting consumer expectations.
At TexasLive! in Arlington, for example, OTL’s fire-enhanced fountain has become a prime gathering spot, doubling as a popular location for social media photos. Such immersive elements, Shores noted, are powerful tools for retail centers, creating experiences that bring visitors back again and again. Advanced technology like artificial intelligence (AI) further amplifies the value of these experiential features, elevating the in-person experience while delivering actionable insights. OTL’s Aquarius Interactive™ system, for instance, has added an AI-driven layer to water installations like the Illuvia fountain at EpicCentral in Grand Prairie.
“Aquarius Interactive™ is activated when guests walk by or near the fountain, and the fountain reacts with changes to the water jets and lights,” Shores said. This AI interaction, which tracks movement, position and size of visitors, enhances engagement by responding dynamically to guests’ presence. Shores emphasized that the AI aspect not only draws in crowds but also captures valuable data on foot traffic and dwell times, helping property managers tailor the space to consumer behavior.
This seamless integration of technology into the physical retail environment is echoed by Leisa Barger, Chief Marketing Officer at Weitzman, who champions data-driven approaches across the company’s Texas retail portfolio. “Data is today’s currency, and my team and I live by this mantra,” Barger stated, noting that data analysis and advanced customer tracking have become essential tools for retaining tenants and understanding shopper preferences.
AI-driven analytics, Barger added, are pivotal for crafting marketing strategies that enhance tenant engagement and maintain high occupancy across Texas. “It’s all about leading your shoppers to where you are as seamlessly as possible,” she said, pointing to search engine optimization (SEO) as one of the most effective tools in reaching consumers. “In some cases, we’re delivering upwards of 100% increases in search and online viewers due to the success of having a highly strategic team implement exciting new SEO search strategies.”
The emphasis on digital marketing has further strengthened Weitzman’s position in Texas’s retail market, especially in grocery-anchored and mixed-use centers. During the pandemic, when foot traffic waned, Weitzman evaluated the digital presence of its 3,500 tenants and assisted those with limited online visibility.
“Small retailers who worked with our team to improve their digital and e-commerce capabilities saw their traffic rise 25% to 28% on average after implementation,” Barger siad. By bolstering tenants’ online engagement, Weitzman has helped secure Texas’s status as a retail leader, even as digital shopping continues to surge.
Experiential development and AI-enabled analytics are transforming Texas retail in ways that go beyond traditional tenant mixes. Shores sees AI’s role expanding beyond fountains, envisioning future applications like interactive lighting that guides visitors through stores or personalized paths to highlight specific products.
“This technology can add another layer of engagement and excitement for consumers without them even realizing it’s there,” Shores said, underscoring how AI not only enhances the customer experience but also delivers data that helps developers and retailers refine their offerings. These advanced AI and digital strategies will be integral in meeting shifting consumer demands, according to Shores and Barger, who both believe Texas’s retail landscape is well-positioned for growth thanks to its commitment to creating environments that resonate with communities while leveraging data to optimize every aspect of the consumer journey. Shores summed it up: “When retail properties offer an amenity that is both entertaining and social-media worthy, it’s a win-win.”