{{titleBar.title}}

​​NEW CANEY – The Signorelli Company has opened the 336-unit Phase I of The Pointe at Valley Ranch Town Center at 20290 Park Lake View Dr.

The waterfront property features one-, two-, and three-bedroom units near Valley Ranch Town Center. 

Residents have access to a ten-acre beach, pool, outdoor kitchen, fitness center, and package and concierge services. 

​​​​MANSFIELD – Institutional Property Advisors have negotiated the sale of two Class A multifamily communities totaling 588 units.

Steadfast Cos. purchased the 274-unit Villaggio Apartments from Carleton Residential Properties and M.R. Development Corp. It was built in 2016 at 1701 E. Debbie Ln.

Weinstein Properties acquired the 314-unit Bex​ley on Main from The NRP Group. It was built at 751 N. Main St. in 2018. ​The property's named was changed from Main Street Lofts earlier this year.​

Both communities feature standard Class A amenities such as pools and fitness centers.

​​​​​​​​​ABILENE – Pillar Capital Group has sold The Shops at Abilene Village, a 145,000-sf retail power center, for $20.1 million.

Anchored by Academy Sports + Outdoors, the center also houses tenants such as Burlington, Petco, Party City, and Five Below.

Nooner Holdings Ltd. acquired the asset via a 1031 exchange.​

​​​​​Stan Johnson Co. represented the seller. 

​​​DALLAS – Construction is underway on another high-rise apartment​ building in Uptown.

The 13-story Alexan Oak Grove residential tower will have 185 apartments ranging from 600 to 2,600 sf.

It is being built on Oak Grove Ave. near Hall St. by Trammell Crow Residential.

Amenities include a clubroom, conference rooms, a fitness center, an indoor-outdoor bar, a resort-style swimming pool, and a sky lounge on the 12th floor.

The building was designed by Meeks+Partners.

​​​BAYTOWN – NIT Industrial LLC has purchased 12.8 acres within Cedar Port Industrial Park near Port Houston for the development of a 204,175-sf speculative industrial project. 

The project will encompass four buildings measuring between 50,250 and 51,925 sf that will feature 32-ft clear heights, dock- and grade-level loading doors, and ESFR sprinkler systems. 

Construction is slated to begin in October. 

​AUSTIN – Work will start next month on a 62,000-sf creative office at 1141 Shady Ln.​ in the ThinkEast master-planned development.​

It will be the city's first ground-up development to use a qualified opportunity fund.

A three-story building, designed by Bercy Chen Studio LP, will be the focal point of PlaceMKR and Saxum Real Estate's development. There will also be a 9,000-sf outdoor courtyard around the property.​​

Tenants of the new building could be eligible for tax benefits as long as most of their assets and gross income are derived from the opportunity zone and if their backers' investments come from capital gains.

Newmark Knight Frank represented the buyers and ​will exclusively lease the new development.

​​​​​​TOMBALL – The city council has approved the rezoning of 103.7 acres for Raburn Reserve, a 400-home community between S. Persimmon St. and Huffsmith Kohrville Rd. 

The ordinance will shift the land use from agricultural, single-family 20, and commercial districts to a planned development district.

It allows for ​residential developments to have varying lot sizes and meet certain standards for open space, parks, and building facades.

​​​​​DALLAS – GlenStar and Singerman Real Estate have acquired eight buildings in the Solana Business Park on SH 114.

The office complex, called the Terrance at Solana, has six five-story, 375,000-sf buildings; a six-story, 309,000-sf facility; and a three-story, 129,000-sf building.

Built in the 1980s, the development has been for sale since last summer when it was less than 40 percent leased. Major tenants include Sabre Corp., Verizon, Goosehead Insurance, and Marsh & McLennan.​

The purchase also includes ​the Solana Fitness Club and 20 acres for additional development.

Redevelopment plans include a new conferencing center, fitness center, tenant lounge, patios, and entertainment space. The previous owners already invested about $50 million in upgrades.

HFF marketed the property on behalf of the sellers, Blackstone Group and its affiliate, Equity Office Properties.​​

​​​​​​HOUSTON – Cerberus Capital and Hines have acquired​ the JP Morgan Chase Tower at 600 Travis St. for $627 million. 

The 1.7 million-sf tower is the tallest building in Texas.

The deal also includes the adjacent 407,000-sf Chase Center, at 601 Travis St. 

New York-based Cerberus will own 90 percent of the properties, while Hines will take a 10 percent share.

The seller was Hairiri Interests, operating as Prime Asset Management. 

​Hines has been managing both properties. Colvill Office Properties is handling leasing.

​​HOUSTON – Harris County has inked two five-year leases totaling 48,511 sf at Northwest Crossing III, a 12-story, 305,242-sf office building at 13105 Northwest Fwy.

The engineering department, recovery and resiliency division, flood control district, and community services department will occupy space on the fourth and sixth floors. ​

​​​AUSTIN – RigUp has moved into 24,000 sf at One Eleven Congress, Cousins Properties' 30-story tower at 111 Congress Ave. 

​The new office, designed by MF Architecture​, has room for about 120 people, but executives are negotiating leases for more floors ​to unite all 300 employees under one roof. ​

RigUp still leases space at 98 San Jacinto Blvd. and currently has 30-plus job openings listed online.

​​AUSTIN – Common Desk will open a second local operation sometime this year. 

The space will be on the top two floors of the historic​ Littlefield Building at Sixth St. and Congress Ave. 

It will have a cocktail lounge, greenhouse meeting space, shared desks, and nine conference rooms.​​

The company already had 17,000 sf of space on W. Anderson Ln. It also acquired Link Coworking earlier this year.

​​​​AUSTIN – Texas' unemployment rate hit 3.5 percent in May, the lowest it has been since the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) began tracking the data in 1976. 

This breaks the previous low rate of 3.7 percent set in April 2019.

TWC Chair and Commissioner Representing Employers Ruth R. Hughs said the low unemployment rate highlights Texas' competitive economy and skilled workforce. “Our economy is thriving across multiple industries, attracting new companies every day, showing that Texas is the best state in the nation to do business.”

Last month marked the 109th consecutive month of annual nonfarm employment growth as 19,600 seasonally adjusted positions were created.

The Texas metro with the lowest nonseasonally adjusted unemployment rate was Midland at 1.7 percent. McAllen-Edinburg-Mission had the highest at 5 percent.

The mining and logging industry saw the most seasonally adjusted growth in employment from May 2018 to May 2019, growing 6.2 percent. The information industry was the only sector to see a drop in employment, falling 1.1 percent.​

​​​​HERNDON, Va. – Texas is the top state in the U.S. for commercial real estate development, creating and supporting 400,986 related jobs and contributing $62.2 billion to the state’s economy in 2018, according to the NAIOP Research Foundation.

The Lone Star State ranks first in warehouse/flex and retail space, beating out Florida and California. 

It is second in industrial, behind Tennessee and above Florida. Texas is also second in office space, beating out Virginia and falling short of New York.

According to the report, new development and ongoing operations of existing commercial real estate buildings created and supported 8.3 million American jobs in 2018. It resulted in salaries and wages of $325.9 billion.

Development and ongoing operations contributed $1 trillion to U.S. GDP in 2019. Work started on 532 million sf of commercial space last year with the capacity to house 1.5 million employees. 

​​​​AUSTIN – The median price of a single-family home reached an all-time high of $407,400 in the city, according to the Austin Board of Realtors (ABOR).

But at the same time, the May 2019 report shows declines in the city for both new and active listings, as well as a 3.4 percent drop in home sales. The same wasn't true, however, for the surrounding areas, which all experienced strong gains.

"A lack of middle-market housing in the City of Austin is driving demand to the suburbs," said Kevin P. Scanlan, 2019 ABOR president. "While the Central Texas housing market is healthy and thriving, Austin continues to struggle with housing options that are affordable for first-time homebuyers as the median price surpasses $400,000." 

Across the metro, 3,452 single-family homes were sold for a median price of $335,095. Sales volume totaled $1.5 billion, up 15 percent from May 2018.

There were 2.6 months of inventory in Central Texas. The Real Estate Center considers six- to 6.5-months of inventory a balanced market. ​

​​​​​BAYTOWN – Wood Partners has opened Alta Baytown, a 336-unit apartment community at 1600 Santavy St. 

Units feature one-, two-, and three-bedroom floor plans with granite countertops, custom backsplashes, and full-size washers and dryers. 

Amenities include a business center with two private conference rooms, fitness center, bike shop, and a pet park. 

​​​​​​​​​DALLAS – Locally based MoxieBridge has acquired Midtown Office Center, a 169,808-sf office complex at 5710 LBJ Fwy.

The new ownership will add amenities such as a fitness facility, conference room, and a lounge/bar.

The center was less than ten percent leased when purchased in May, but MoxieBridge has since negotiated nearly 50,000 sf worth of new leases.

The buyer now owns approximately 700,000 sf of office space in North Texas. 

​​​​​THE WOODLANDS – As of mid-May, retail and industrial rental vacancies in the area were up 0.4 and ​2.8 percent over the year, respectively.

According to Caldwell Cos., the retail and industrial rates were at 5 percent and 15.1 percent last month. Meanwile, local office vacancy rate fell 1.6 percent to 8.1 percent.

Rental rates per sf in each category are down from the beginning of the year with the largest decrease in retail rentals. 

Across the market, there are 13 retail buildings totaling 319,415 sf under construction. Three ​office buildings totaling 378,340 sf are also underway. No industrial space is in the pipeline as of last month. 

​​​SAN ANTONIO – GVA Real Estate Group has purchased Kenton Place, a 244-unit apartment complex at 14650 Nacogdoches Rd. 

The property offers one, two, and three-bedroom floor plans. Amenities include two pools, three sports courts, a children’s play area, fitness center, and dog park.

​​​SAN ANTONIO – SMS-SAR Hospitality LLC has submitted plans to the Historic and Design Review Commission for Hotel Sul Fiume, a 127,000-sf project at 202 N. St. ​Mary's St.

The 14-story, 147-room boutique hotel is planned for a site currently home to a three-story rectory belonging to the neighboring St. Mary's Catholic Church.

Plans call for the rectory to be demolished and for a new one to be built within the hotel. A first-floor restaurant and a River Walk-level cafe or retail space have also been proposed.