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Creatively fitting a towering multifamily in a neighborhood like Victory Park required deep thought by international developer Hines and their team of architects and designers. The infill development of a former parking lot on the northeast corner of Nowitzki Way and Victory Park Lane, The Victor is now the tallest building in Dallas’ Uptown—and it’s garnering some of the highest rents in the area at about $370 a square foot.
Typically, such a building would be long and rectangular, much like the high-rises you see in downtown Dallas. But such a design would crowd the neighborhood’s urban fabric, Munoz + Albin Principal Jorge Munoz tells me as we walk along Nowitzki Way to tour the site.
Comprised of 344 luxury residences and adjacent to the American Airlines Center, the 40-story tower blends beautifully into the neighborhood. To do so, designers broke the masing of the tower into two distinct shapes to accentuate its verticality: a thin floating glass volume on the east and a masonry volume on the west. Click to read more at www.dmagazine.com.
‘Six of the top ten fastest-growing counties in the U.S. are here in the Lone Star State. There is no better time to purchase Texas property than right now…’
HOUSTON, July 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — White Commercial Real Estate (WCRE) highlighted its unique role helping investors capitalize on the resurgence of the Texas economy, recently featured in a glowing public assessment by Texas governor, Greg Abbott. As the 9th largest economy in the world by GDP, Texas remains positioned for more economic expansion over the next five years, based on strong employment and income growth forecasts. Much of this is due to a healthy pro-business atmosphere fostered by the state, along with being the home base for 100 of the 1000 largest public and private companies in the U.S. Experienced and exclusive boutique real estate firms like WCRE, with strong roots in the area, are the surest way for property investors to seize upon the recent Texas economic upsurge. Click to read more at www.prnewswire.com
While the Houston office market has had a rough 12 months, and will likely continue to lag in the coming quarters, the industrial market is booming. In fact, the industrial market in Houston is so strong, that the metro area has hit the highest quarterly leasing total on record, according to a recent report from NAI Partners.
Graphic via NAI Partners
By the end of the second quarter of this year, Houston’s overall industrial vacancy rate stood at 9%, more or less unchanged since the previous quarter, however, there were 12.5 million square feet of leasing activity recorded for Q2 of 2021, which is more than double the 6 million square feet of leasing activity during the same period last year. A wave of new deliveries from previous quarters has kept inventory levels stable and average gross rent rates relatively flat.
The news is significant for numerous reasons, but namely how the industrial market is helping bolster the broader commercial real estate sector as other asset classes continue to struggle since the start of the pandemic. But other economic indicators continue to show improvement, the report reveals, such as lower unemployment stats, the increase in drilling operations, and an uptick in new construction.
According to the report, the vast majority of industrial leasing over the last several years has been for warehouse and distribution space. The metro has had 12 straight years of positive net absorption, the report indicates, even as Houston continues to also witness record levels of industrial construction.
Major Q2 leases highlighted in the report include Ferguson’s 750,7750-square-foot lease at the Empire West Business Park, a 685,000-square-foot lease by Living Spaces Furniture Company at the Air 59 Logistics Center and a 645,000-square-foot lease at 4725 E. Grand Parkway by Webstaurant Store.
Chart via NAI Partners
While 15 million square feet of new industrial space remains under construction, nearly 70% of it is already leased, the report indicates, further illustrating the high demand for industrial. Additionally, Port Houston’s container terminals have remained busy, with year-to-date activity increasing by 8% over the same period in 2020.
As Houston’s import-export activity increases and the economy continues to shift towards e-commerce and manufacturing on-shoring, and Texas’s population growth remains steady, the sky-high demand for new industrial products will likely continue for the foreseeable future.
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.
Ready for some good news? The office market in Austin is not only showing signs of life, but it’s performing quite well compared to its other Texan peers such as Dallas, Houston and San Antonio. According to a new report from NAI Partners, the Austin office market has returned to positive absorption territory after three consecutive quarters of negative absorption. Just to illustrate how quickly the situation has improved in Austin, the latest second-quarter net absorption figure is around 208,500 square feet while the first quarter was -349,000.
A closer look at the stats highlighted in the report also indicates that the average asking rent is also increasing, though only slightly from $38.08 per square foot last quarter compared to $39.85 per square foot for the second quarter. Total inventory has also increased since this time last year, going from 92.72 million square feet in Q2 2020 to just shy of 96 million square feet in Q2 2021. Total vacancies are still higher than they were a year ago, at 14.8% in Q2 2021 versus 10.4% during Q2 2020.
Graphics via NAI Partners Austin had been experiencing exponential growth even before the pandemic, but since early 2020, the city has become the darling for a tech industry that has become tired and priced out of Silicon Valley. High-profile HQ relocation announcements include the likes of software giant Oracle, fitness brand F45 Training, cryptocurrency startup Blockcap, pre-paid bank card company Green Dot, and many others. There’s also been speculation about whether Tesla could make an announcement of a corporate HQ move to the Texas capital to be close to its $1.1 billion Gigafactory.
The NAI Partners report also offers employment data from the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas which indicates that the city has shown strong economic performance and a steep decline in unemployment to 4.6% in May, well below the national and Texas state rates of 5.8% and 6.5% respectively. The city saw the creation or addition of 17,235 jobs between March, April and May, helping close the gap on the 133,000 jobs lost at the beginning of the pandemic. As of the end of Q2 2021, Austin’s workforce was at 92% of the total pre-pandemic employment.
While upwards of 150 people were moving to the city every day before the pandemic, Austin’s cost of living has also increased as more new residents plant roots in the Texas capital. And while the city has drawn much attention from the tech and commercial real estate industries, Austin will have to quickly address its growing pains if it hopes to sustain this ongoing economic boom.
HOUSTON, July 16, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Great Place to Work® and Fortune magazine have honored Transwestern as one of the 2021 Best Workplaces for Millennials™. This is Transwestern’s fourth time being named to this prestigious list, and it is the only full-service commercial real estate firm that received the recognition. Earning a spot means that Transwestern is one of the best companies to work for in the country.
The Best Workplaces for Millennials™ award is based on analysis of survey responses from more than 5.3 million current employees. In that survey, 92% of Transwestern’s employees said Transwestern is a great place to work. This number is 33% higher than the average U.S. company.
“Transwestern’s culture of empowerment, inclusion and innovation fuels a collaborative work environment, one that respects a healthy work/life balance, supports the community and nurtures professional growth,” said Tom Lawyer, President of Transwestern Real Estate Services. “This recognition is an honor for everyone in the firm. Our younger professionals demonstrated outstanding teamwork and fortitude throughout the pandemic, and we are proud to support them in serving clients and advancing their careers.”
The Best Workplaces for Millennials list is highly competitive. Great Place to Work, the global authority on workplace culture, selected the list using rigorous analytics and confidential employee feedback. Companies were only considered if they are a Great Place to Work-Certified™ organization. Click to read more at www.globenewswire.com.
