HOUSTON (Houston Chronicle) – More than five years after announcing its plans, Boston-based GID Development Group has begun work at its mixed-use Regent Square development.

Construction has started on the first building at the 24-acre project, a 21-story apartment tower called The Sovereign. The 290-unit building at 3233 W. Dallas St. will include studios, one- and two-bedroom units ranging from 590 to 1,415 sf. Rents have not been announced.

The Sovereign is expected to open in March 2014. It has been designed to achieve LEED Silver certification.

Overall plans for Regent Square include 400,000 sf of retail, restaurant and entertainment space; over 1,500 residential units; and 250,000 sf of office space.

CROCKETT (AgriLIFE Extension) – Real Estate Center attorney Judon Fambrough will conduct a half-day seminar on negotiating oil and gas leases Aug. 25 in Crockett.

Fambrough will cover some of the most common provisions of an oil and gas lease and explain their legal significance. Many provisions that mineral owners may wish to insert for personal benefit and protection will be discussed.

Sponsored by Cooperative Extension and AgriLife Extension office of Houston County, the seminar will be at the Crockett Civic Center from 8:15 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Registration and sign-in will begin at 7:30 a.m. Cost is $20.

Fambrough's publication, Hints on Negotiating an Oil and Gas Lease, can be downloaded free from the Center's website.

PLANO (Dallas Morning News) – Work is set to begin next week on a transit-oriented development in downtown Plano.

Tenn.-based Southern Land Co. will break ground on a mixed-use project tentatively called 15th and I, located just south of the downtown Plano DART station.

The five-story, 280-unit complex with ground-floor retail will be built between the light rail line and I Ave.

The project is expected to open to residents in late 2013.

AUSTIN (Austin Business Journal) – The former Freescale campus in east Austin has sold.

A group of investors led by JLM Financial Investments LLC purchased the 935,255-sf property that previously housed Freescale Semiconductor Inc. Though the purchase price was not disclosed, it was marketed for $9 million.

Scattered across 109 acres along US 183 and Bluestein Dr., Will Nichols of Stream Realty Partners said the 30-year-old property will need significant upgrades. However, JLM has not announced renovation plans.

Freescale maintains operations on a portion of the property as well as on its West Parmer Ln. campus. Its corporate headquarters are on W. William Cannon Dr.

EL PASO (El Paso Times) – Home prices are up in El Paso, according to the latest data from the National Association of Realtors.

El Paso’s median home price jumped to $135,000 in the second quarter, up 1.9 percent over the same quarter in 2011. The increase was more modest than in other Southwest cities such as Albuquerque and Phoenix, where home values increased 4.5 and 29 percent, respectively.

While the national median home price, at $181,500, had its strongest year-over-year increase since first quarter 2006, it still remains 20.1 percent below its 2006 record.

CORPUS CHRISTI (Corpus Christi Caller-Times) – Corpus Christi’s Carroll High School will soon get a replacement, thanks to a bond program approved by voters in 2010.

Corpus Christi Independent School District breaks ground Sept. 10 on a $70 million high school in far southside. The new 400,000-sf building at Cimarron and Lipes Boulevards will accommodate about 2,400 students.

Part of the bond program will also allow for construction of the $25 million, 155,000-sf Adkins Middle School, expected to house about 1,000 students.

Both schools are scheduled to open for the 2014-15 school year.

DALLAS (Dallas Morning News) – Demolition crews are making way for a new apartment complex at the corner of Wycliff and Congress Avenues in Dallas’ Oak Lawn neighborhood.

Trinsic Residential Group is developing the 301-unit Wycliff Apartments to replace the Braes Brook complex, which was built in 1965. The new four-story project will be built around a parking garage.

The complex is slated to open in summer 2013.

ABILENE (Abilene Reporter-News) – Home sales and median prices are up in the Key City.

Real estate agents in Abilene sold 159 homes in July, up 14 from the same month last year. The median home price also climbed $15,000 in July, to $138,000.

The majority of area home sales were in the $200,000 to $249,000 price range.

LONGVIEW (REBusinessOnline.com) – An Arlington-based group is expanding the Longview Regional Medical Center.

Ascension Group Architects is planning a 175,000-sf addition to the hospital’s footprint. It will include 100 new acute care rooms, a three-story tower and space for new physicians.

The existing building will also be renovated, adding additional beds to its maternity unit.

The expansion project is expected to be completed in late 2013.

LUBBOCK (Lubbock Avalanche-Journal) – Texas Tech University held its ribbon-cutting Thursday for its newest residence hall in the southeast part of campus.

Located at Boston Ave. and 18th St., the $38 million, 178,000-sf dormitory will house more than 500 students in suite-style rooms. The building will include wireless internet throughout.

Students will begin moving into the new dorms Sunday.

WASHINGTON (Fort Worth Star-Telegram) – Despite a slightly slower pace of home construction in July, U.S. building permit applications are at their highest level since August 2008.

Construction of new single-family homes and apartments fell 1.1 percent in July over the previous month, breaking a four-month trend of increases in housing starts. The Commerce Department reported a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 746,000 residential units, down from 754,000 in June.

The slight slip in construction activity does not seem to be dampening builders’ confidence, however. According to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo sentiment index, home builder confidence grew to its highest level in five years, with many builders seeing their best sales since February 2007.

HOUSTON (HFF) – Commerce Capital Partners LLC has purchased Timberstone Apartments, a 240-unit multifamily complex at 4200 West FM 1960.

Situated on 13.4 acres, the property has ten residential buildings that are 95 percent leased.

HFF represented Commerce Capital Partners and secured the acquisition loan through RGA Reinsurance Company. HFF also arranged a joint venture equity contribution for the acquisition from a private investor.