NewsTalk Texas

WACO - The vacant Dodge/Chrysler/Jeep dealership at Wooded Acres and Valley Mills drives is being demolished and will be replaced by a 12,000- to 18,000-sf building for retailers new to Waco, according to Mike Meadows, a local real estate agent.

Meanwhile, an 8,000-sf strip to be called Lakewood Center will go up next door to accommodate retailers and restaurants needing up to 3,000 sf.

Meadows said he is quoting $24 per sf annually, triple net, as the lease rate on Lakewood Center space. That price would include insurance, maintenance and taxes.

The retailing scene in the Waco area received a boost when Beaumont-based appliance and electronics chain Conn’s confirmed it was leasing 40,000 sf next to Academy Sports & Outdoors on New Rd.

Home Zone Furniture opened in the former 51,000-sf Lacks Home Furnishings space at Franklin Ave. and New Rd.; and Big Lots is moving into the former Circuit City space on Waco Dr.

See previous NewsTalk Texas.

Read more at the Waco Tribune-Herald.

Listen to Podcast 117 for this story...and more!

PORT ISABEL - A 73-unit affordable multifamily apartment community is being developed at what used to be Villa Del Mar I & II at 106 Port Rd.

The seven-building Artisan at Port Isabel is being developed by Franklin Development and the Port Isabel Housing Authority.

Units will range from 742 sf for a one-bedroom, one-bath apartment to 1,275 sf for a four-bedroom, two-bath apartment, according to Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA).

The entire complex will be 76,248 sf. Rent average per unit with restrictions was $482 in April 2010, according to TDHCA.

Read more at the Island Breeze.

Listen to Podcast 117 for this story...and more!

DENTON - Fountain Residential Partners, in association with Crosswind Development Partners, is expected to break ground this spring on 33 North, a student housing community adjacent to The University of North Texas.

The 139-unit, 427-bed project will be located on Eagle Dr. 33 North will be a fully furnished community and with all utilities included.

The community will offer one-, two-, three- and four-bedroom apartment homes.

33 North is expected to deliver in fall 2013.

The developer plans to capitalize on the university's enrollment. The UNT student body is expected to increase to 45,000 over the next five years. Fall 2010 enrollment was about 36,000.

Read more at MarketWatch.

Listen to Podcast 117 for this story...and more!

ODESSA - To offset the increasing price of renting apartments and buying homes, Odessa Affordable Housing and the City of Odessa have begun construction on 16 townhomes in the west side of Odessa in the Corpus Circle cul-de-sac on the corner of 10th St. and Coronado Ave.

The first four homes cost $93,500 to construct. The homes are being constructed with insulated concrete framing. The technique allows for a quicker construction period; it takes two days to frame four townhomes versus nearly three weeks.

The homes qualify for the city’s Homebuyer Assistance Program, in which applicants who qualify can receive help with down payment and closing costs from the City of Odessa.

With full assistance, qualified applicants might be able to pay a minimum mortgage of $700 to around $800 a month for a 1,200-sf, three-bedroom home, according to Jill Miller with Odessa Affordable Housing. The homes will also include two bathrooms and a one-car garage.

The average monthly rent for a three-bedroom apartment was $976, according to the Odessa Chamber of Commerce 2011 Apartment Survey.

Read more at the Odessa American.

Listen to Podcast 117 for this story...and more!

PERMIAN BASIN - A new online master’s program geared toward the energy industry may be the answer in the Permian Basin as companies need qualified people for management.

In the fall, the University of Tulsa will start its online Master of Energy business program. The program was created for employees, who have at least two years of experience in the industry, to continue working while taking two courses a semester year round.

Timothy Coburn, professor of energy and management at the University of Tulsa and program director, traveled to Midland and Odessa to talk to energy companies about the master's program.

“It’s really ideally suited for Midland and Odessa,” Coburn said.

“This program is really geared toward companies,” Coburn said, to help employees move up instead of just being retained in the same position.

There are only three other master's energy programs in the country, Coburn said, and none are completely online.

Read more at the Odessa American.

SAN ANTONIO - A new report from NAI REOC San Antonio says the medical office market looks stable even as many doctors delay real estate decisions while they wait to see what happens with federal health care reform.

Some trends:

• Some doctors and medical businesses are buying or building their own offices and skipping traditional medical office space.
   
• A hot area: Urgent-care facilities. Everyone is building them.
   
• Bedroom communities are the place to be. Developers are building hospitals and large medical professional buildings in Westover Hills and Schertz.
   
• Asking rents were up 2.2 percent at the end of 2011, to $23.09 citywide when compared with the end of the year in 2010, according to NAI REOC. Class A space was up 1.8 percent, to $26.79.

See the latest reports at NAI REOC San Antonio.

Read more at the San Antonio Express-News.

CENTRAL TEXAS - Baby boomers and older want different things in their homes than they did when they were 20 years younger. Builders, developers and salespeople at four active adult communities and a real estate agent specializing in senior buyers were asked what appeals to those 55 and older.

Older buyers want value, high-end materials, energy efficiency and high-speed Internet.

Buyers are choosing floor plans with two or three bedrooms and a study. It's big enough to have children and grandchildren visit but not too big to maintain.

Older buyers don't want gigantic kitchens, but ones they still can comfortably cook in for one or two people on a regular basis and for guests on occasion. They want a washer and dryer close to the kitchen.

Buyers are choosing an oversized spa shower in place of a tub, or they are asking for walk-in tubs with a door that closes.

Steps are out. Most active adult communities focus on one-story homes.

Buyers across the active adult communities want walking paths and access to golfing, pools and a built-in social life.

Read the full story at the Austin American-Statesman.

AUSTIN - New York’s BGC Partners Inc. announced plans to acquire nearly all of Grubb & Ellis Co. Grubb & Ellis, based in Santa Ana, Calif., filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Monday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court.

According to the Austin Business Journal’s 2012 Book of Lists, Grubb & Ellis was the 16th largest commercial property management firm in Austin last year with 1.9 million sf under management — including space at Met Center.

Grubb & Ellis was ranked as the 15th largest commercial real estate brokerage firm last year after it handled $63 million worth of transactions in 2010. It leased about 393,000 sf for clients during that year and bought or sold an additional 153,000 sf.

BGC has proposed to acquire Grubb & Ellis’s holdings for $30 million, according to bankruptcy court documents. But that is only the opening bid, and BGC has asked the court to set a March 19 deadline to receive other offers.

In its bankruptcy filing, Grubb & Ellis listed $150 million in assets and $167 million in debts.

Read more at the Austin Business Journal.

TOMBALL, MAGNOLIA - The following reflect data for monthly home sales in the Tomball and Magnolia markets:

Source: Mark Dimas, The Professional Group Realty

Read more at Community Impact Newspaper.

BROWNSVILLE – The University of Texas at Brownsville has officially opened the 58,558-sf Biomedical Research Building.

The facility funded by $34 million in state tuition revenue bonds houses 12 laboratories, four classrooms, eight faculty research areas and 12 science research facilities.

The new building will produce cutting edge research to address health issues in the Rio Grande Valley and propel the school to a higher tier in medical research.

See previous NewsTalk Texas.

Read more at the Brownsville Herald.

HARRIS COUNTY - Enterprise Products Partners LP has purchased a 37-acre tract of land adjacent to its Enterprise Crude Houston (ECHO) crude oil terminal, which is currently under construction, in southeast Harris County. The land would be used for future expansion.

The acquisition will allow the partnership to increase its crude oil storage capacity at ECHO to approximately 6 million barrels. The ECHO facility is expected to begin service in second quarter 2012.

ECHO also will serve as the receipt point for delivery of crude oil from the Eagle Ford Shale play in South Texas.

Enterprise is nearing completion of a 147-mile pipeline that is expected to begin service in second quarter 2012 and will have 350,000-barrels-per-day of crude oil capacity. 

Phase II of the system, which includes an 80-mile pipeline extending the partnership’s crude oil system into the far southwest portion of the Eagle Ford Shale, is expected to be in service during first quarter 2013. Both phases are anchored by long-term contracts with shippers.

Read more at Bulk Transporter.

ABILENE - January 2012 home sales increased by more than 25 percent over January 2011 despite a continuing trend of higher prices.

Residents purchased 79 homes compared with 63 for January 2011, according to data from the Abilene Association of Realtors.

The total monetary volume for those homes, more than $10 million, was nearly 26 percent above the volume for January 2011.

The median sale price rose $8,200 year over year for January, up to $117,000. The average sales price was $126,822, up slightly from the average in January 2011.

Median sale prices for Abilene homes climbed $17,000 from the end of 2010 through last December, according to data from the Texas Quarterly Housing Report compiled by the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University.

In January, there was one house sold for more than $500,000, five sold for between $250,000 and $300,000 and seven for between $200,000 and $249,999. The plurality of homes sold, 13, carried price tags between $120,000 and $139,999.

Read more at the Abilene Reporter-News.

HOUSTON - January marked the seventh consecutive month of an improving local housing market, according to data released by the Houston Association of Realtors (HAR).

Total closings, dollar volumes, pending sales, single-family sales and median sales prices are up while active listings and months of inventory continue to decline.

January sales of homes priced below $80,000 rose 6.4 percent; sales of homes in the $80,000-$150,000 range climbed 12.4 percent; sales of homes between $150,000 and $250,000 were up 17.6 percent; sales of homes ranging from $250,000-$500,000 advanced 4.8 percent; and sales of homes that make up the luxury market — priced from $500,000 and up — fell 2.1 percent.

* Months inventory estimates the number of months it will take to deplete current active inventory based on the prior 12 months sales activity. This figure is representative of the single-family homes market.

For the full MLS Report for Jan. 2012, see Houston Association of Realtors.

LUBBOCK - January’s home sales results beat the start of 2011 in all but one category on the Lubbock Association of Realtors’ Multiple Listing Service monthly report.

The average sale price last month was $131,241, down 4.2 percent from the $136,975 average posted in January 2011.

However, the median selling price rose by $2,000, from $109,500 in January 2010 to $111,500 last month.

Agents last month notched 148 closings, the first time January sales broke 140 since 2008, when they recorded 170 sales. Last month’s sales action was up nearly 10 percent from the 135 closings posted in January 2011.

This month opened with 187 pending deals, 12.7 percent ahead of this time a year ago. Inventory at the end of January was 1,588 homes, down from 1,662 at the end of January 2011. That translates into 6.8 months’ worth of inventory, based on sales activity for the last year.

Read more at the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal.

AUSTIN - The CommUnity Care Center, a 50,000-sf health clinic, has opened at 1201 Braker Ln. in North Austin.

The building has 18 dental rooms, 57 exam rooms, a pediatric area, and two maternity ultrasound rooms.

Read more at KXAN.

PASADENA - Capital Commercial Investments Inc. of Austin has sold its 48,710-sf office facility at 4300 Pasadena Fwy. to GSL Welcome Group.

The building was constructed in 2009 and is on approximately 4.95 acres in Harris County.

Read more at the CoStar Group.

MCALLEN - Delta Airlines is to discontinue serving customers at the McAllen-Miller International Airport beginning May 1 due to profit concerns.

Airline representatives told airport officials that "the load factor in this market has been approximately 60 percent, while a load factor of 75 percent is necessary for the route to be profitable," according to a post that the airport placed on its Facebook page.

The post reports Delta has made agreements with United/Continental and American Airlines to ensure "that any flights which may have been booked through Delta for May 1 or beyond will be re-booked on another airline without minimizing any disruption of services for passengers.”

Read more at The Monitor.

BEXAR COUNTY - Bexar County foreclosure postings dropped 15.1 percent in the first quarter of the year — the continuation of a long-awaited dip after years of climbing foreclosure numbers.

An improving local real estate market and the generally healthy Texas economy appear to be part of the reason for the decline. But new rules that limit the ability of homeowner associations to foreclose on homeowners also are playing a small role in the drop.

In the first quarter of the year — statistics are reported one month ahead — lenders moved to foreclose on 3,535 properties in Bexar County, compared with 4,166 in the first three months of 2011, according to the San Antonio-based foreclosure listing service RexReport.com.

Jack Inselmann, vice president of the housing research firm Metrostudy, said it appears that foreclosures hit a peak in mid-2010 and are on their way down.

“We've just worked our way through the downturn. We have better housing demand than most markets, especially as it pertains to new homes,” Inselmann said. “As the market continues to improve, foreclosures should continue to come down.”

New state laws require homeowner associations to go through a judge if they want to foreclose on owners who are behind on their payments. Previously, HOAs could use the quicker nonjudicial foreclosure.

Read more at the San Antonio Express-News.

VICTORIA - The first thing to do when discussing the housing market is disregard everything heard on the national news about market trends, foreclosures and prices. Real estate markets are local and controlled by local market influences, according to Lee Swearingen of Coldwell Banker The Ron Brown Company.

Victoria's inventory of existing homes on the market is the lowest in the last ten years. The inventory below $200,000 — where most of the market activity is — is very low compared to demand. Above $300,000, the supply is better and there is still activity.

Median price, average price and number of units sold are all up and would be higher if there were more supply.

*Figures refer to the residential homes market

See the full report at Coldwell Banker The Ron Brown Company.

WICHITA FALLS - Existing home sales rose to 105 from 80 in January 2011 and the sales volume was up more than $2 million, according to the Wichita Falls Association of Realtors.

The Multiple Listing Service statistics showed the January sales volume was $10,273,784, compared with $8,165,777 in January 2011.

Existing home sales in January were down a dozen from 117 in December. The December sales volume was $9,399,547.

The average number of days on the market was 83. There were 237 new listings and 859 total active residential listings in January. Last year the total number of active listings in January was 357.

The average sales price in January was $97,846, a decrease of $18,198 from $116,044 in December.

Read more at the Wichita Falls Times Record News.