Category: Focus

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.

Real Estate Investors Lay Down in Family Homes

Posted on by Sarah

Wall Street businesses are more enthusiastic about buying family homes than ever before. They run the risk of killing their latest Golden Goose if they surge existing supplies rather than helping them build new homes.

Last week, Blackstone Real Estate Investment Trust purchased a portfolio of apartments from insurer American International Group for $ 5.1 billion. In June, the investment company spent $ 6 billion on the Home Partners of America, which owns more than 17,000 homes nationwide and offers lessors purchasing options. Bloomberg reported that private equity giant KKR has launched a new division to buy and rent homes.

Meanwhile, in Europe, real estate investors are increasing their share of the portfolio of investing in residential real estate, and German landlord Vonovia recently launched a € 18 billion acquisition of competitor Deutsche Wohnen. That’s $ 21.2 billion. Click to read more at www.texasnewstoday.com.

Stream Leases 1 Million Square Feet at West Houston Industrial Development

Posted on by Sarah

Stream Realty Partners (Stream), a national real estate services, development, and investment company, announced today that they reached 100 percent occupancy within Phase I of Empire West Business Park, which totals 1,036,057 square feet across three buildings. The feat was achieved within four months of completing construction. Stream will break ground on Phase II of the development in September with expected delivery in second quarter 2022.

Stream broke ground on Empire West, a 300-acre industrial development, in June 2020 and delivered three buildings in April of this year. Building one is 163,144 square feet and occupied by Warefor Solutions LLC, a new company that offers integrated solutions for product development, manufacturing, logistics, sales, marketing, warehousing, distribution, and fulfillment of high-quality home products. Building two is 122,138 square feet and was purchased by Winix America Inc., a manufacturer of healthy home appliances and air purifiers, and building three is 750,775 square feet and occupied by Ferguson Enterprises, the largest U.S. distributor of plumbing supplies, PVF, waterworks and fire and fabrication products.

Justin Robinson, Managing Director and Partner at Stream, said, “Empire West exemplifies Stream’s entrepreneurial platform. Our team has executed at the highest level across all facets, including land development, vertical development, leasing and property management. The market has spoken regarding the quality of Empire West’s thoughtful design, strategic location fronting I-10 and the business-friendly location in Brookshire. We cannot wait to quickly launch our second phase.”

Phase II of Empire West will consist of six buildings totaling 2,318,305 square feet. The design of Phase II mirrors the design of Phase I, but on a much larger scale, with buildings ranging from 124,000 square feet to over one million square feet. Upon completion, 45 acres of land will remain at the site for future development.

“Leasing demand for our first phase was off-the-charts and the outcome speaks for itself,” said Matteson Hamilton, Managing Director and Partner at Stream. “Based on market fundamentals and current user demand, we are going big with Phase II by offering the utmost flexibility to accommodate users of all sizes in the most modern buildings in the entire market. Additionally, Waller County and The City of Brookshire have been great partners, and we look forward to working on another successful phase with them at Empire West.”

Stream’s Robinson, Hamilton and Jeremy Lumbreras, Senior Vice President, represented Stream Realty Partners in the transactions and oversee leasing and marketing efforts at the development.

Empire West is located within the exploding West Houston industrial submarket, home to some of Houston’s largest and most sophisticated distribution users. Over the past few years, there has been migration to west Houston to support the distribution needs of not only greater Houston, but also the surrounding regional markets such as San Antonio, Austin, and The Valley.

Lumbreras said, “As tenants’ size requirements increase and consumers’ appetite for expedited delivery grows, larger distributors are planting flags in the Houston market where access to rooftops is critically important due to local consumptive-based demand. Empire West’s strategic location accommodates these local needs and provides distributors regional access to over 16 million people within a five-hour drive.”

The Empire West project is overseen by Stream’s Investment Management Platform which leverages expertise from Stream’s 13 local offices to make investment decisions based on real-time supply and demand fundamentals. Stream actively manages three discretionary commingled funds, in addition to several joint ventures, and wholly-owned assets totaling 33 investments of 14.7 million square feet and approximately $2B in assets under management.

Moving Dallas Forward Requires Bold Land Use in Transportation and Climate Policy

Posted on by Sarah

Spend enough time with Dallas urbanists during happy hour, and eventually, the conversation will drift toward discussing why our transit system does not work like a coastal city or how we can decarbonize our grid to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to meet Dallas’ Comprehensive Environmental and Climate Action Plan (CECAP) goals, or how we make a dent in our rapidly rising housing costs, and the conversation inevitably arrives, in some form or fashion, at the same place:

Are these goals even possible with the current land use? Is our city dense enough? Will the suburbs reach Oklahoma at this rate?

The last one is spoken in jest, but only slightly so.

And for a good reason. We have ambitious goals like the CECAP calling for a reduction in our share of single-occupancy vehicle travel from 88 percent to almost 60 percent and 35 percent of new housing located within a transit-oriented development (TOD) community by 2050.

DART’s investment in its bus system, the Automated Bus Consortium, and D2 provide a major boost to our mobility ambitions, and the city’s strategic mobility plan includes excellent strategies like a citywide mobility hub network tied to an increased bicycle and pedestrian network. Click to read more at www.dmagazine.com.