Category: Focus 2021

Playing in the ‘Major Leagues’: Meredith Cullen Moves to Cushman & Wakefield, Tackles ‘Red-Hot’ Land Market

Posted on by Sarah

Meredith Cullen has been interested in the Texas land market since he was a kid, driving around to scout tracts with his father Roy.

“That’s what my dad was into and that was his talent: finding out where the path of growth is,” says Cullen, who leads Cushman & Wakefield’s land brokerage team in Houston along with David Cook.

Roy passed that talent and passion to Meredith, who’s using it to ignite what is already a red-hot market.

“It’s on fire,” Cullen says. “Right now, there’s a lot of opportunity.”

That opportunity only exists if you know where to look like he does. Even then, it’s become a challenge in the past year.

“If I could find 500 acres maybe 10 miles past the Grand Parkway between I-45 and US 59, I could sell that all day long for $50,000 an acre,” says Cullen. “Right now, it’s just hard to find that product.”

What’s driving the demand? He describes it as a perfect storm of behaviors generated by and during the pandemic. First, we all know about the exponential increase in online buying, which created a need for last-mile distribution locations.

“I have a lot of clients looking for industrial land go off-market to try
to find these pieces,” Cullen explains. Click to read more at www.rednews.com.

Tops in Texas: What to Watch for in the State’s Industrial Markets

Posted on by Sarah

Even to those who’ve worked in the industrial real estate market for decades, the figures generated over the past year are staggering. “It’s as red-hot and active as I’ve seen it in my career,” says Reid Goetz, Senior Vice President at Hillwood. “That’s both on the demand side and the construction and capital market side.”

Goetz is responsible for the industrial development and leasing within AllianceTexas, a 27,000-acre, master-planned and mixed-use development in North Texas that produced 53 million square feet of commercial development to date. “We have land holdings that will allow us to develop another 36 million square feet of industrial,” Goetz shares.

Since AllianceTexas got its start more than 30 years ago, it had a leg up on some of the new developments hoping to capitalize on the industrial boom, many of which are now running into supply chain issues with materials, including steel. Click to read more at www.rednews.com. Click to read more at www.rednews.com.

‘Go time’ in Fort Worth: City Elects New Leadership in the Midst of Explosive Growth

Posted on by Sarah

Long in the shadow of the ‘D’ of DFW, Fort Worth has emerged into the spotlight in a huge way.

“Fort Worth’s growth over the past decade has been tremendous – our population has grown by 25% since the 2010 census, and we’re now the 12th largest city in the country,” says Robert Sturns, Director of the City of Fort Worth’s Economic Development Department. “If this growth continues, Fort Worth is projected to have over 1 million residents by 2025.”

Location is a huge factor in that growth. Fort Worth is home to DFW Airport, Alliance and Meacham airports, as well as railways, which are anchored by companies such as BNSF. Major highways in and around the city also simplify travel around the Metroplex. Combined with the state’s pro-business approach and low cost of living, that makes Fort Worth a destination for major companies and the employees who work for them.

“With employers like American Airlines, Bell, Alcon, and many others – plus a thriving community of small businesses that are supported and celebrated by locals – there’s a lot of opportunity here,” Sturns says.
He adds with so much new talent flooding the market, the city is focused on supporting those individuals as they start their professional lives here. Click to read more at www.rednews.com.

Here’s Why The Leverage That We Can’t Track Matters

Posted on by Sarah

Despite all we hear about asset classes increasing in value across the board and the unprecedented strength of the U.S. economy, as a real estate entrepreneur and former professional trader, here’s what keeps me up at night: I believe we only know part of the story and that the piece we’re missing — our current inability to account for “invisible” or “hidden” leverage can have significant implications for our country’s economic health.

The hitch? We likely won’t know until it’s too late.

In a nutshell, “leverage” is the term for funds that are borrowed (outright or against an asset) with a goal of using those funds for further financial gain. Applied wisely, leverage has fueled wealth and economic growth for centuries; however, as with any debt, when things go south, borrowers can find themselves underwater, financially speaking. This is simply the reality of our economic system.

The risk is amplified when investors leverage assets that are inherently more difficult to track — such as cryptocurrencies, fine art, collectible cars and wine collections — and that are likely used far more often than our economic data shows. Trickier still, this kind of borrowing masks the multiplier effects of risk and debt, and it tends to be prevalent during times like these when we’re feeling optimistic and asset valuations “seem” to be on a never-ending upward trajectory. Click to read more at www.forbes.com.

Suburban Commercial Real Estate Boom Continues Full Steam Ahead as Dallas Office Market Struggles

Posted on by Sarah

In June, a group of public and private stakeholders approved a new framework plan to build a $130 million performing arts center at the Hall Park development in Frisco. The new venue would not only bring a large, world-class concert hall to the fast-growing Texas city, but it’s reflective of the investment and interest in Frisco and would become yet another major cultural amenity in a city increasingly known for its recreational and amusement offerings.

The plan for the performing arts center is just a drop in the bucket when compared to the investment in Frisco over the last decade. For instance, The Fields mega-development, which will deliver an expansive office park, thousands of new residences, hotels and more on a 2,500-acre site is anticipated to cost upwards of $10 billion. And the development already has a major tenant lined up as the future home of the PGA of America.

What’s happening in Frisco is something that other municipalities could only dream of — the city’s population has bloomed from 110,000 in 2010 to roughly 210,000 today. Frisco is frequently cited as the fastest growing city in the country and it’s also home to the 91-acre Dallas Cowboys’ headquarters dubbed The Star, the NCAA Division I football stadium Toyota Stadium, Comerica Center arena, Dr. Pepper Ballpark, the National Soccer Hall of Fame, the National Videogame Museum, and more. Click to read more at www.rednews.com.

Making Mapping Easy: MapRight Offers New Tools for CRE Pros

Posted on by Sarah

Who remembers the days of Key Maps? Or, more recently, printing out directions before you headed to a destination? Only in the past 15 years have we been able to rely on applications such as Google Maps, Apple Maps or Waze.

“If you think mapping is boring or isn’t changing, you’re not paying attention,” says Steve Roberson, CEO & Founder of MapRight, an online and mobile mapping platform. “You used to have to use a paper map. The ability to see yourself on a real-time map has
only existed for maybe a decade.”

His company is taking that evolution even further, allowing clients to navigate and build maps whether they have GIS experience or not.

“One function on the MapRight mobile app allows a subscriber to send an interactive map to somebody. That somebody can get driving directions to a property and view it themselves without the agent even being there,” Roberson explains. “That person can evaluate the property’s boundary, floodplain and things like that. A feature like that had never really even been thought of except in the past decade.”

Roberson unlocked his passion for mapping decades ago as he completed his Master’s in applied geography with a concentration in GIS.

“I was always fascinated with real estate and how mapping interacted with it,” he says.