{{titleBar.title}}

​​WACO – BL Companies is building a 700,281-sf distribution center and warehouse in​ the city's industrial district.

Heavy equipment has arrived to ins​tall water lines on the 93-acre site at 2000 Exchange Pkwy. 

Get more Waco-area industrial news on the Real Estate Center's website:

• "Waco's Wild Rise"
  
• Waco real estate news
• ​​​​​Texas Quarterly Commercial Report

​Source: Waco Tribune-Herald

​​​KILLEEN – First National Bank has broken ground on an office building​ at 2201 Trimmier Rd. 

The five-story, 47,653-sf facilit​y will have a full-service bank on the first floor and executive level and professional support departments on floors two through five. 

It will house 130 full-time jobs. 

Delivery is set for fall 2021.

Get more Killeen-Temple news on the Real Estate Center's website.

​Source: ​Killeen Daily Herald

​​LEWISVILLE – California-based Stei-Tek is building a 100,000-sf office and technical building ​at 1206 N. Stemmons Fwy.

The company purchased the site with a 34,000​-sf warehouse in November. It initially has plans to reuse the existing building but later changed its plans.

The $13 million project will be an E-beam and X-ray sterilization facility.

Construction will be complete by July 2021.

The Real Estate Center has more on DFW's industrial market:

• ​​​Texas Quarterly Commercial Report
• Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington industrial news​

​​FORT WORTH – The Bowery at Southside, 303-unit multifamily property in the S​outh Main Village mixed-use development, has been sold.

The community at 220 E .Broadway Ave. is near the Trinity Railway Express T&P terminal and the Near Southside Medical District.

Institutional Property Advisors represented the seller, StoneHawk Capital Partners, and procured the buyer, Weinstein Properties. 

The Real Estate Center​​​​ has more information like this online for free:

• ​​​​Texas Quarterly Apartment Report​​
• Dallas-area multifamily news

​Source: Connect Media

​​GEORGETOWN – Ascension Seton is developing a medical office building in Wolf Lakes Village, a 164-acre planned mixed-use community at the corner of I-35 and US 29. 

The 40,000- to 60,000-sf medical office building will include orthopedics and full outpatient imaging s​​​ervices such as X-ray, CT scan, MRI, ultrasound, mammography, and bone density testing. 

The building will sit on 12 acres.

The Real Estate Center has more office news for Austin-Round Rock:

• ​Texas Quarterly Commercial R​eport
• Austin-area office news​
  
• Local medical news
  

​​​COLLEGE STATION (Real Estate Center) –  Second quarter numbers released today by the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University show a Texas land market hit hard by plummeting oil prices and the pandemic. 

Research Economist Dr. Charles Gilliland issued the state’s land report card: 

• Price: + 1.7% 

• Sales volume: - 8.7% 

• Average acreage sold: - 9.1% 

• Total acres sold: - 23.5% 

• Total dollar volume: - 22.2% 

"The average $2,929-per-acre sales price inched up 1.7 percent, well short of the 6.5 percent increase in the first quarter and falling short of that quarter’s $2,986-per-acre price,” Gilliland said. “Closed land sales dropped 8.7 percent, more than double the decline posted in the first quarter." 

Typical transaction size fell 9.1 percent to 1,217 acres. Gilliland said this points to an increase in the sales of smaller properties. 

The drop in activity resulted in a 23.5 percent decline in the number of acres sold compared with a first-quarter dip of 4.3 percent. That decline caused the total dollar volume to fall 22.2 percent to $1.1 billion, down from a first-quarter increase of 6.1 percent.  

"Overall, Texas land market results are encouraging considering the negative forces impacting the state and world economies," said Gilliland, who has tracked Texas land markets for decades. "Regional results varied." 

Panhandle-South Plains’ prices retreated, and Far West Texas had a profound drop in activity along with lower prices.  

West Texas and Northeast Texas markets had increasing prices but contracting numbers of transactions and total acres sold. 

"The Gulf Coast-Brazos Bottom and South Texas regions posted modest price increases accompanied by falling sales and lower dollar volumes," said Gilliland. "Austin-Waco-Hill Country saw little price change while the number of sales remained steady and dollar volume modestly declined. 

"These results suggest land markets have weathered the storm well. Reports from the field suggest brokers are seeing interest in rural land increase, which may point to a stronger market in the future."

Statistics represent transactions reported by land market professionals. The reported sample of sales does not include all Texas sales. However, Gilliland said the large sample effectively represents market developments. 

Dr. Gilliland will dive deeper into Texas' region land markets on Facebook Live on Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2020, at 3:00 p.m. CST. Click here for more information​ and to tune in. ​

The Real Estate Center has more rural land information online for free.

​​​HOUSTON – Medistar Corp. will break ground this year on Horizon Tower, a 30-story, 485,000-sf building in the Texas Medical Center.

The tower at 6929 Main St. will include 17 levels of life sciences​ space suited for biom​edical, technology, clinical, medical, and office uses above a 13-story parking structure. 

It will be part of the $550 million Texas A&M Innovation Plaza.

Completion is set for January 2024.​​

JLL is handling leasing.​​

The Real Estate Center has more informati​on like this online:

• Houston mixed-use news
• Texas Quarterly Commercial Report​
• ​Houston medical and office news
• Area education news
• Local multifamily news
• Houston retail news 

​​CYPRESS – Creekside Storage, a 147-unit self-storage facility at 14660 Spring Cypress Rd., has been sold. ​​

The project spans 33,6000 ​sf.

Marcus & Millichap represented the seller, a private investor. An El Paso-based LLC was the buyer.

Get more Houston-area news on the Real Estate Center's website:

• Texas Quarterly Commercial Report​
• Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land retail news​

​Source: REBusiness Online

​FRISCO – A company set up by Missouri-based Maxus Properties has purchased The Tower at Frisco Square, a five-story office building at 5757 Main St.

Designed by O'Brien & Associates, the 175,000-sf building was built in 2015. It was developed by Encore Enterprises and Frisco Square Developers LLC.

It is home to such companies as Gearbox Software.

Colliers International brokered the sale.

The Real Estate Center has more on DFW's office market:

• Dallas-area office news​
• ​​​Texas Quarterly Commercial Report

SKOKIE, Ill. – Illinois-based Stage Equity Partners (SEP) has acquired two medical office buildings in Texas.

The first asset is a 16,258-building at 9410 Dugas Dr. in San Antonio. 

The other is at 2500 W. Illinois Ave in Midland.

The Real Estate Center has more on its website:

• San Antonio medical news
• Midland real estate news
• San Antonio office news
• Texas Quarterly Commercial Report

​​Source: LoopNet

​​AUSTIN – Whole Foods Market Inc. is developing a five-story, 143,800-sf building at 835 W. 6th St., just south of the Shoal Creek Walk office tower. 

The project, designed by Gensler, will have a parking garage.

Construction begins Aug. 31. 

Whole Foods opened its latest Austin s​tore in June. 

The Real Estate Center has more local commercial real estate news like this online:

• ​Texas Quarterly Commercial Report​
• ​​Austin retail news

HOUSTON – Locally based TRECAP Management has purchased two warehouses totaling 31,750 sf.

The buildings ​​at 12400 and 12402 Taylor Rd. are fully leased to SRS Distribution Inc.

Colliers International represented both the buyer and seller, H&B Development & Construction LP.

Get more Houston-area industrial news on the Real Estate Center's website:

• Houston-area industrial news​
• ​​​​​Texas Quarterly Commercial Report

​Source: REBusiness Online

​COLLEGE STATION – On July 21, 2020, the Texas Supreme Court issued its Twentieth Emergency Order in connection with COVID-19. Under the order, which remains in effect until Aug. 24, 2020, all sworn petitions for eviction must include the following statements:

• that the premises are not subject to the moratorium on evictions imposed by Section 4024 of the CARES Act; 

• whether or not the premises is a "covered dwelling" subject to Section 4024 of the CARES Act; 

• whether or not the plaintiff is a “multifamily borrower” under forbearance subject to Section 4023 of the CARES Act; and 

• whether or not the plaintiff has provided the defendant with 30 days’ notice to vacate under Sections 4024(c) and 4023(e) of the CARES Act. 

The CARES Act is a federal law passed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Section 4024 of the CARES Act places a tem​porary moratorium on evictions with respect to certain dwelling units assisted by federal loan programs, including Community Development Block Grant loans (CDBG) (including Section 108 guaranteed loans), Neighborhood Stabilization Program loans (NSP), and CDBG-Disaster Recovery loans (CDBG-DR). Section 4023 provides protection for owners and tenants of certain multifamily properties with federally backed loans. 

The Real Estate Center​​​​ has more information like this online for free:

• Residential Rent Protection and COVID-19
• ​​​​Texas Quarterly Apartment Report​​
• ​​Podcast 446: COVID-19's impact on Texas housing
• COVID-19 Impact Projections on ​Texas Economy​
• ​Real Estate Center COVID-19 news​​​

​Source: Real Estate Center

​​​​HOUSTON – Little Rock, Ark.​-based BSR Real Estate Investment Trust has acquired Broadstone Park West from Starlight Investments for $51 million.

Built in 2014, the 370-unit, garden-style community is at 2219 Greenhouse Rd​. Amenities include a clubhouse, fitness center, resort-style swimming pool with sun deck, garages, and dog park. 

The purchase brings BSR's Houston-area multifamily​ portfolio to 2,332 units.

The Real Estate Center​​​​ has more information like this online for free:

• ​​​​Texas Quarterly Apartment Report​​
• Houston multifamily news online

​Source: Talk Business

​​McKINNEY – Everest Development has begun work on Florence, an 18-acre, Mediterranean-inspired mixed-use development .

The project along Custer Rd. will have 200 apartments and between 40,000 and 50,000 sf of commercial space. It will have a gym, pool, conference rooms, walking trails, and dog park. 

Designed by Humphreys & Partners Architects, the project is being built by Novel Builders. NAI Robert Lynn is leasing the space.

Delivery is set for March 2022.

The Real Estate Center​​​​ has more information like this online for free:

• ​​​​Texas Quarterly Apartment Report​​
• Dallas-area multifamily news

​Source: ​Dallas Morning News

​​DALLAS – VanTrust Real Estate has started construction on a one million-sf speculative industrial building in its DalParc Logistics Center on Telephone Rd.

The $34 million project will​ be ready by next summer.

Richardson-based Alliance Architects designed the building. The general contractor is MYCON General Contractors.

CBRE is leasing the project. 

The Real Estate Center has more on DFW's industrial market:

• ​​Texas Quarterly Commercial Report
• ​Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington industrial news​

​​​COLLEGE STATION – In the week ending July 25, Texas' initial unemployment claims decreased to a little over 81,300. That brings the total since March 21 to 3.08 million, according to data from the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL).

This marks the third consecutive week of declines as the number of daily new COVID-19 cases trended downward. 

Despite the decrease in new claims, the number of Texans who continue to claim unemployment insurance increased the week of July 18 to 1.2 million.

"This increase is worrisome, indicating that people continue to find themselves unemployed," said Real Estate Center Research Economist Dr. Luis Torres.​

According to data from the DOL and the Employment and Training Administration, the number of initial unemployment claims decreased the week of July 18 in Texas' major and border metros. This marks the second consecutive week of declines.

With almost 688,300 claims, Houston has the largest ​cumulative number of unemployment claims of any Texas metro.

Here are Center estimates for the other three major and the four border metros from March 21 to July 18:

• Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, 661,800 claims;

• San Antonio-New Braunfels, 210,300 claims;

• Austin-Round Rock, 183,100 claims;

• McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, 79,300 claims;​

• El Paso, 69,300 claims;

• Brownsville-Harlingen, 35,100 claims; and

• Laredo, 21,300 claims.
  

​Although McAllen saw decline in new unemployment claims, its overall coronavirus cases and deaths have increased at a significant rate, negatively impacting the local economy's recovery.

Accommodation and food services, healthcare and social assistance, retail trade, and administrative/support/waste management/remediation services represented the sectors with the biggest unemployment claims.

Nearly 54.1 million Americans have filed unemployment claims in the past 19 weeks, and new claims increased the week ending July 25. This is the second consecutive week of increases, raising concerns that the recovery could be stalling nationally.

The Real Estate Center has a wealth of economic information online for free.

​​​COLLEGE STATION – COVID-19’s impact on the economy can be summed up in one word: disruption. Disruption in the single-family construction market in many ways mirrors that in the overall housing market, with shocks on both the supply and demand sides.

New single-family home sales through Multiple Listing Services (MLS) suffered in April and May, months when sales normally begin to ramp up. Similarly, MetroStudy data show new-home sales growth fell almost 100 basis points in one quarter but remained positive. The sudden drop in sales resulted in dire builder sentiment, according to the National Association of Home Builders Home Market Index.

Sales decreases vary considerably by construction stage. At the national level, the biggest pullback in new-home sales was for homes that hadn’t begun construction yet, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. New homes either currently under construction or recently completed also retreated but at a much smaller magnitude.

Disruption in the single-family construction market isn’t limited to sales, said Real Estate Center Senior Data Analyst Joshua Roberson.

"The supply side is showing signs of chaos as well," he said. "A precipitous drop in new-home listings through the MLS followed poor new-home sales. This squeezed statewide inventories to less than four months, the lowest level over the past ten years."

Construction input costs also fell dramatically in April but gradually recovered in the following months, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). This shock is in large part due to similar turmoil in energy costs, specifically the oil industry, BLS data show. 

Nationally, construction labor also had a knee-jerk moment with a wave of layoffs in April, knocking total construction employment back to 2018 levels.

"There has been some recovery in this sector, but how much and for how long isn’t for certain right now," Roberson said.

Nationally, job openings and rehires had a strong comeback in May that nearly matched the total separations from April, according to the BLS. Texas construction employment made a recovery, but it was comparably modest, falling significantly short of April’s job loss. 

"Like many post-COVID industries, Texas’ new-home market may be stuck in a game of red light/green light with the virus calling the shots,”" Roberson said. "National builder sentiment improved considerably once the lockdowns began to relax and foot-traffic improved. Unfortunately for Texas, building permit counts for single-family homes haven’t recovered and are currently low when they should be high due to summer seasonality. This likely means bad news for future new-home sales, which means builder sentiment could recoil."

The Real Estate Center has a wealth of economic information online for free.

​COLLEGE STATION – Consumer demand for Texas manufactured housing rose in July, but COVID-19-related disruptions hindered the industry’s ability to meet orders and created a backlog.

"As coronavirus cases rose through the first half of July, the state's manufactured housing plants had to operate with a reduced workforce," said Rob Ripperda, vice president of operations at the Texas Manufactured Housing Association (TMHA). "Employees with fevers or symptoms had to remain home and out of the factory until they cleared the return-to-work guidelines. These guidelines are set at the corporate level, and follow the recommendations posted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention."

In addition to labor-supply constraints, the price of raw materials elevated. Lumber and steel account for the largest input share for manufactured housing. Rising material costs, however, were offset by higher sale prices.

The Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University and the TMHA have partnered to produce a monthly survey of business conditions and expectations surrounding the manufactured housing industry.

Overall, the manufacturers noted favorable levels of business activity and remained optimistic for the second half of 2020. Production is projected to increase in sync with sale prices, despite rising uncertainty and ongoing supply-chain disruptions.

The Real Estate Center has a wealth of economic information online for free.

​​​HOUSTON – Gulf Coast Commercial Group is wrapping up the first phase of the 24-acre Lower Heights mixed-use development along I-10.

The most recent addition to the project is a 35,000-sf office building with street-level retail space leased to Central Bank and SheSpace.

There is also a 375-unit apartment community called Alexan Lower Heights. The five-story, Class A complex offers studio and one- and two-bedroom units.​

The project's 37,000-sf retail block is home to Total Wine and Ulta Beauty.

Future phases call for additional retail, office, and multifamily space. ​

The Real Estate Center has more information like this online:

• Houston mixed-use news​
• ​Texas Quarterly Commercial Report​
• Area retail and office news
  
• Texas Quarterly Apartment Report
  
• Local multifamily