Category: News & Market Reports

PS Business Parks, Inc. Announces Acquisition of Port America in Texas

Posted on by Sarah

GLENDALE, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Sep 1, 2021–PS Business Parks, Inc. (NYSE:PSB) announced today that it has completed the acquisition of Port America, a 717,735 square foot multi-tenant industrial park located in Dallas, Texas, for a total purchase price of $123.0 million.

Port America consists of 15 buildings with an average customer size of 8,000 square feet and was approximately 96% occupied at closing. The park is strategically located immediately adjacent to DFW International Airport on fee simple land. The park is uniquely positioned to provide institutional quality industrial space to small- and medium-size users seeking a premium location, 26-foot clear heights, ample dock loading, and access to key freeways serving DFW Airport and the Dallas Metroplex. The park is complementary to PSB’s existing Dallas, Texas, industrial and flex portfolio totaling 3.0 million square feet.

“Port America fits perfectly with our small bay industrial investment strategy. The combination of dock-served suites averaging 8,000 square feet, fee simple land in an irreplaceable location, and our best in class local operating platform should result in strong long-term growth for our stockholders,” said Mac Chandler, President and CEO of the Company. Click to read more at www.galvnews.com.

CrowdStreet Expands Leadership with Key Executive Appointments with Deep Industry Experience

Posted on by Sarah

AUSTIN, Texas, Sept. 1, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — CrowdStreet, Inc. (“CrowdStreet”), the award-winning online real estate investing marketplace, today announced that it has expanded its senior leadership team with the appointment of three senior executives to help drive growth of the commercial real estate investing marketplace. New executives include Genni Combes as the Chief Financial Officer, Kristen Howell as General Counsel & Chief Compliance Officer and Sheldon Chang as the Vice President of Investment & Wealth Solutions. These strategic hires bring decades of experience from real estate, investment/wealth management, private equity in alternative assets, and public equity markets.

The new hires come on the back of a noteworthy time for the company. CrowdStreet recently hit a significant industry milestone with more than $2 billion raised across more than 500 real estate deals, including single-asset projects and funds, by individual investors using the CrowdStreet Marketplace.

“These executives are exceptional additions to our talented leadership team. They bring invaluable experience in a wide variety of real estate investing and financial markets to CrowdStreet. They will be instrumental in helping take to the next level the largest and most diverse marketplace that serves as a main funding platform for sponsors and investment platform for new and established investors,” said Tore Steen, Chief Executive Officer of CrowdStreet. “We have seen tremendous growth over the past few years, even during the pandemic, as investor demand for our commercial real estate investing opportunities has increased exponentially. Our expanded team makes CrowdStreet even more strongly positioned to scale while meeting the needs of both commercial real estate professionals and investors.” Click to read more at www.finance.yahoo.com.

More Than 800 apartments et to Land in East Austin on Manor Road

Posted on by Sarah

A mixed-use complex featuring more than 800 apartments is in the works along Manor Road in East Austin.

Austin-based real estate developer Cumby Group announced August 24 that it plans to build three adjacent projects comprising more than 800 apartments, along with 150,000 square feet of live-work and business space. The projects will sit on nearly 9 acres between Airport Boulevard and the Mueller development.

Work is already underway on The Emma, a five-story, art-deco-style building at 3219 Manor Rd. providing 146 apartments. Amenities will include a live-work space on the ground floor and an elevated courtyard pool. The Emma is scheduled to open next summer.

Next door at 3115 Manor Rd., Cumby Group plans to build a couple of five-story, mixed-use buildings offering a total of 450 to 500 apartments. Amenities will include live-work and business space, as well as a neighborhood spot that may include food trucks, a makers market, and a farmers market. Construction is scheduled to start in the spring of 2022.

The third project, at 3303 Manor Rd., tentatively will supply about 200 apartments, along with an area for food trucks. Click to read more at www.austin.culturemap.com.

2021 Mid-Year Texas Apartment & Economic Outlook

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The economic recovery continues due to increasing COVID-19 vaccination rates that have allowed the reopening of the economy. Based on the most current data from the Texas Department of State Health Services, 54.5 percent of the state’s population is fully vaccinated1. Unfortunately, after months of decline in COVID-19 cases, the number of new cases has increased because of the number of people not yet vaccinated and the emergence of the Delta variant, which has shown to be more contagious. This has increased uncertainty surrounding the end of the pandemic. Until the virus is beaten, a full recovery cannot be secured.

Growth prospects for the Texas economy have improved for 2021 because of the economy’s reopening and, to some extent, the uptick in the oil industry. The strong recovery has caused supply-chain bottlenecks, putting upward pressure on prices and raising inflation concerns. Whether inflationary pressures are transitory is uncertain because of unknowns about whether the economy is fundamentally different coming out of the pandemic and the uncharted territory of recovering from a health crisis.

It’s still not clear how different the economy will be coming out of the pandemic as some changes become permanent. It is possible that some structural forces (e.g., the traditional work environment, digital divide) that were prevalent before the pandemic will no longer hold after it ends. Because this recession was caused by a health catastrophe, the recovery path will probably be different than that of previous recessions.

Apartment Market

The apartment market was aided in 2021 by further rounds of fiscal stimulus enacted by the federal government and increasing vaccination rates. Click to read more at www.recenter.tamu.com.