Category: Uncategorized

Westchase District Brings New Amenities to Top Performing Real Estate Market

Posted on by Sarah

Parks and streetscapes benefit landlords and tenants

It was 2004 when a group of bold leaders from Westchase District met in a board retreat to go through a visioning exercise to imagine what Westchase District might look like 20 years down the road. As a result of that exercise, the Westchase District Board of Directors established the following Vision Statement: “The Westchase community is a vibrant living and working community, with a high-quality downtown. The Westchase community is perceived by residents as the safest in the region and has the highest (measured) mobility level in the region. The community is known for having entertainment/recreation amenities, and there are inter-connecting hiking, biking, and pedestrian ways, linking a set of community gathering areas.”

Since that vision statement was adopted by the board in 2004, it appears on the District’s website and at the bottom of every board meeting agenda, serving as a constant reminder of the Board’s vision.

Parks and greenspaces

This fall, Woodchase Park — the area’s first, fully programmed park — will open at 3951 Woodchase Drive. Woodchase Park features a fenced dog park, children’s play area with a misting feature and climbing wall, a community garden, walking paths and exercise stations, plus a pavilion with restrooms and a covered patio available for events. The park will have a soft opening in early October, with weekly activities that include adult exercise classes, a children’s mobile library, and art and music activities for kids. Ten days of grand opening festivities will begin on Thursday, October 28, including a ribbon-cutting ceremony with Mayor Sylvester Turner. Click to read more at www.rednews.com.

Flipping the Switch: Multifamily Experts See Market Bounce Back

Posted on by Sarah

Ric Campo rode out a number of storms in his career. He co-founded Camden back in 1982, then helped take it public 11 years later. Anyone who’s worked in commercial real estate since the early ‘80s has seen the effects of a recession, Campo included, which is why his evaluation of the past 18 months is so good to hear.

“This is the best recovery out of a recession that I’ve ever seen in my business career,” says Campo, Camden’s Chairman of the Board and CEO.

The multifamily firm has developed dozens of luxury apartment communities all over the country — from Atlanta to Los Angeles. Campo says at the beginning of the pandemic, occupancy dropped about 100 basis points.

“When you get down to it, that’s not awful,” he says. “But what happened then was we rebuilt that occupancy in the summer of 2020 and now our national occupancy levels are in the 97 percent range.”

Campo says the turning point really seems to be March 2021. That’s when Camden noticed the biggest bump, especially in its Texas properties. Between Houston, Dallas and Austin, Camden operates nearly 50 multifamily communities in the Lone Star State.

“We were still weak coming out of 2020, then all of a sudden came March. You had more people getting vaccinated, the mask mandates being released and jobs were being added back in Texas overall,” explains Campo.

He says the impact is clear when you compare Q1 occupancy rates to those in Q2. Every single Texas market saw a bump for Camden. Austin went from 96.3 percent to 97.3 percent. Dallas got a boost from 96 percent to 96.6 percent. Houston grew from 94 percent to 95.7 percent. Quarter-over-quarter revenue is up too: 3.6 percent for Austin, 2.7 percent for Dallas and 3.3 percent for Houston. Click to read more at www.rednews.com.