The coronavirus pandemic has brought many activities to a unsettling halt. But it has failed to blunt Houston’s apartment construction boom. New data from Yardi Matrix, a supplier of commercial real estate data and research, shows that Houston comes in at No. 7 for most apartments completed during the first six months of 2020, with 2,085 apartments built. Houston also comes in third place for projected apartment completions in 2020 is the Houston metro area. Yardi Matrix foresees the Bayou City region welcoming 10,404 new apartments this year, up 2 percent from 2019. Little surprise to those paying attention to Texas real estate: More apartments were completed in Austin during the first six months of 2020 than in any other U.S. city. In the first half of the year, construction of 3,827 apartments was finished within the city of Austin, according to Yardi Matrix. Right behind Austin on that list is San Antonio, where 2,871 new apartments hit the market in the first half of this year. Dallas follows Houston at No. 8 with 1,869 units; behind Big D is Farmers Branch, No. 18 with 1,161 units. “Around the U.S., we have seen a variety of states, counties, and cities choose to close nonessential businesses for ‘stay at home’ or ‘shelter in place’ orders. For the most part, construction activity has been included as an essential activity that can continue with business as usual during these orders,” Doug Ressler, manager of business intelligence at Yardi Matrix, says in a release. Click to read more at www.houston.culturemap.com.
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JDI Loans closes $6.6M loan for The Granary at Briggs Ranch, San Antonio
JDI Loans LLC, an affiliate of JDI Realty LLC, closed a $6.65 million bridge loan to Convergence Brass LLC, secured by an 865-acre planned mixed-use development site in San Antonio’s fast-growing western suburbs. The non-recourse loan will be used to pay off the current first mortgage, fund an interest reserve and fund various other pre-development costs before the property’s eventual sale. “While most other lenders have curtailed lending, JDI was able to look past the current pandemic and underwrite to the submarket’s strength and long-term value of the subject residential development,” said Rob Weil, principal, JDI Realty. The city-approved master development plan for the property envisions 2,498 single-family homes and 1,932 apartments in multiple communities around a central town square. “During a time in which nearly all lenders were on the sidelines, JDI was able to understand a complex land development with several private and public stakeholders—and close on an accelerated timeline,” said Ben Bartlett, president and chief operating officer, Convergence Investments, a partner in Convergence Brass. “We’ve now completed three transactions with JDI, and each time they closed quickly without any last-minute surprise modifications. That’s a rarity in the private bridge lending world.”
Gardner Capital Completes $25 Million Mixed-Income Housing Project in Southwest Houston as Part of Hurricane Harvey Recovery
DALLAS, TX – Gardner Capital, a family-owned private equity firm specializing in multifamily housing and renewable energy development and investment, recently completed a $25 million mixed-income multifamily apartment community in southwest Houston. Provision at West Bellfort, a 144-unit gated community created as part of the Hurricane Harvey recovery effort, is located in the Alief neighborhood of Sugar Land, Texas, a mix of diverse multicultural neighborhoods and commercial properties. Gardner Capital developed Provision at West Bellfort in partnership with both Texas-based and national partners at Amegy Bank, Raymond James and Fannie Mae, bolstering its growing presence in the Houston market. “We appreciated the opportunity to work with local and national partners in Houston while helping the city and community continue to recover from Hurricane Harvey,” said Michael Gardner, President and CEO of Gardner Capital. “As we expand our work in affordable housing and real estate development across the country, Houston, Dallas and Austin remain our primary markets, and Provision at West Bellfort is a terrific example of multiple industry leaders coming together to create an outstanding complex in a diverse neighborhood.” Click to read more at www.multifamilybiz.com.
Office Space: Pandemic Redefines Commercial Real Estate Industry
According to Global Workplace Analytics, a research-based consulting organization specializing in telework, a recent survey shows that we will see 25-30% of the workforce working at home on a multiple-days-a-week basis by the end of 2021. Commercial real estate expert Stephen LaMure, owner of Dominus Commercial, said how the industry reacts to the pandemic should really be broken down into three major parts: office buildings, industrial and retail. All three are experiencing some major changes, both in good and potentially bad ways. “Right now, it’s a little bit of a wait and see. Especially with this uptick in COVID-19 cases,” said LaMure. He works in Dallas’ design district and believes only 20 percent have come back to their offices in his area. He said overall, the pandemic has really caused companies to rethink whether they want to permanently work from home or alter their office space. “Most of them said they needed to redesign their space to be able to spread out,” he said. “A big part of our business is talking to companies about their values and their purpose and what their culture is. How do you get a space and work environment that supports that or projects that?” In the last few months, some companies like Twitter and Square have already made the call to let some employees stay at home for good. Click to read more at www.nbcdfw.com.
HPM adds industry veteran Gaila Barnett to west region
HPM recently announced the hiring of accomplished industry professional and long-time owner’s representative Gaila Barnett, AIA, making her the company’s latest addition to its fast-growing west region. Barnett leads HPM’s ongoing work in the construction of the $35 million Hyatt Place hotel at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, and will also play a vital role in helping HPM to expand its footprint in several industries. With decades of experience in the architecture, construction and owner’s rep markets, Barnett serves as a utility player who will help bridge the gap between HPM’s lines of service and client management on upcoming projects for the company. Barnett’s versatile background has given her a unique vantage point into the nuances of all phases of program management and equips her with the skills needed to guide key project partners across HPM’s broad portfolio of assignments. Throughout her career, she has led projects totaling $2 billion across 26 states in a variety of design, construction and owner’s rep leadership roles, adding continued depth and versatility to HPM’s bench of talent. Possessing a resume loaded with experience in the healthcare sector, Barnett brings the ability to home in on various facets of guaranteed maximum price, design-bid-build and design-build projects while navigating the challenges associated with each phase in complex organizations. Barnett began her career as an architect in the Dallas area and Los Angeles, learning all aspects of the industry’s business while leading major projects for high-profile clients including IBM, Dell and Southwestern Bell. She worked for the commercial construction firm The Beck Group in Dallas as a construction account manager for IBM in 17 states and oversaw a successful merger with one of the region’s leading design firms. Barnett led several dozen healthcare capital projects for Hammes Company including St. Luke’s Health in Houston, Pitt County Memorial Hospital in North Carolina and Scott & White in Temple, Texas, before expanding her own company, Barnett Consulting Group. As an entrepreneur, she began her company in 1995 as an ADA consulting firm and expanded her services to provide program management and owner’s rep services in 2010 for a number of signature clients, including Baylor, Scott & White Health in Texas and Cinemark in 17 states. “I’m thrilled to join the team of talented professionals at HPM and look forward to helping the company blaze new trails in Texas,” Barnett said. “I am confident in my ability to act as both a manager and mentor in all project stages, and believe that my extensive background in architecture and construction, along with the ability to see through the lens of the owner, will play an integral role in bridging the common language barriers often found in high-stakes project work. We’re off and running on the Hyatt Place hotel in Fort Worth, and I’m grateful for the confidence of the entire leadership team at HPM.” Barnett will add value by helping to plug in key knowledge gaps in the design phase spurred by the current void of mid-range project experience hampering the architecture community. A registered architect in Texas and California, Barnett was awarded the AIA Young Architect of the Year Award by the Dallas AIA chapter in 1996 and has appeared in several leading publications, including Contract Design Magazine. She is a registered accessibility specialist in Texas and has served as an ADA expert witness for the U.S. Department of Justice on numerous class action lawsuits. “Gaila’s keen understanding of the necessities and key details behind each phase of a major capital project allows her to produce superior work and communicate effectively with all parties involved,” said James Adams, vice president of HPM’s west region. “HPM is poised to benefit from her versatility and impressive list of industry contacts in Texas, and we anticipate her leadership will help guide us into the next decade of continued growth and expansion as we tap into new markets.”
Economist says COVID will cause housing to flourish in suburbs, small towns
Places like Uptown and downtown Dallas will flounder, and places like Frisco, Prosper, Celina and further-flung suburbs will flourish as the U.S. housing market adjusts to a world where COVID-19 is a reality of life. That was one of many predictions made by Mark Dotzour, who spent 18 years as chief economist for the Texas A&M Real Estate Center, during a webinar Wednesday put on by Dallas-based HomeVestors of America. With COVID-19 concerns and business closures — government-mandated and otherwise — people will trade urban density for more elbow room in the suburbs and exurbs, and working from home will be the norm, Dotzour said in the virtual chat about how the pandemic will affect residential real estate. “The urban vibe just isn’t what it was anymore,” Dotzour said. “How are you going to get into a high-rise office building when the mayor says you can only have four people in an elevator at one time?” Demand for suburban housing will rise and people will want to live in smaller towns within a 60-minute drive of major cities, Dotzour said. In the years ahead, many more people will work from home, coming into the office perhaps only for a weekly all-hands-on-deck meeting, Dotzour said. “It’s going to put pressure on the downtown area,” he said. “People are going to want to have a little bit of space. I see a longer-term trend here of people moving out of the big-city density into the suburbs.” Click to read more at www.wfaa.com.