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​​RICHARDSON – The $1.5 billion CityLine development is celebrating the debut of its first hotel.

The 148-room Aloft Richardson has opened its doors on State St. just south of George Bush Turnpike.

The hotel is right across the street from State Farm Insurance's regional headquarters and a block from DART's commuter rail station.

The new hotel has 30,000 sf of meeting space plus a gym and outside splash pool.​

​Check out hotel stories across Texas.​ If we don't have it, send it to us.​

​​​​​COLLEGE STATION – Stratus Properties Inc. has obtained a $36.8 million construction loan to finance construction of the retail component of Stratus’ Jones Crossing mixed-use development project.

​Check out more mixed-use stories across Texas.  

​​​​​​​CANYON – It looks like the WTAMU buffalo herd is growing.

West Texas A&M University (WT), know as the Buffaloes,​ announced that more than 10,000 students are enrolled for the fall 2017 semester, marking its first five-digit enrollment tally.

Check education stories across Texas. 

​​GRAPEVINE | COLLEYVILLE | SOUTHLAKE – The latest housing market data has been released by Community Impact Newspaper.​

​Check out more DFW Housing Market Research.

​​​DALLAS – With 98 percent of the office space being leased up at The Shops at Park Lane, Northwood Investors has unveiled plans for a new 11-story, 340,000-sf office tower.

The office tower at 8010 Park Lane will sit on the north side of The Shops at Park Lane, and will include ground-floor retail space that will open up to a community park.

A general contractor has yet to be named to the project, which is expected to take 18 months to build.

Lease rates for the new office space would be a 15 to 20 discount to current office rates in Uptown.​

​Check out DFW Office Market Research.

​​​SAN ANTONIO – Work has begun to develop Pradera, a single-family home rental community in the city's far west submarket.

Pradera will offer 250 single-family detached homes, with move-ins expected to begin as early as second quarter 2018.

The 43-acre project is on Culebra Rd., one mile from Loop 1604.​

​Cl​ick here for more San Antonio-New Braunfels Housing Market ​Research.

​​​IRVING – Oculus Health moved has relocated its headquarters from Portsmouth, N.H., to Las Colinas.

The company has rented 27,300 sf in the Las Colinas Corporate Center II at SH 114 and SH 161.

Oculus is immediately putting 80 employees in the building and plans to expand its offices to 200 people by 2018.

About 30 people are already in the office.

The company subleased its new headquarters on the top floor of the building from Microsoft.​

​Check out DFW Office Market Research.

​​A​TASCOCITA, HARRIS COUNTY​ – Local officials broke ground on a $1 billion expansion of the northeast water purification plant located on the shores of Lake Houston. 

​IRVING – The Dallas County suburb has issued permits for more than $1.1 billion in construction in 2017, surpassing the 2016 high by 34 percent.

The biggest project to start this year in Irving is Pioneer Natural Resources' $213 million headquarters in Las Colinas.

A new Westin Hotel at the Irving Convention Center is the second-largest Irving project to start this year, with a value of $82 million.

Several large corporate expansions in the city by McKesson Corp., Cognizant, Atos and Pei Wei Diner LLC will add more construction.

In addition to the new medical facilities, warehouses, apartment complexes and restaurant and retail projects started this year, Irving also has granted permits for about 700 single-family homes.

​RELATED: Motor courts, motor courts, where've you been?​​

Check out DFW Market Overview Research.

​​​​SAN ANTONIO – The NRP Group is developing Montabella Pointe II, a 321-unit, three-story apartment community on 13 acres along N. Foster Rd.

The 271,255-sf development will include studio and one-, two-, and three-bedroom units. It will sit close to its sister community, the 144-unit Montabella Pointe.

Construction is expected to last two years.

NRP is partnering with Lido Advisors LLC and Canyon Partners Real Estate. 

​​​COLLEGE STATION – Pre-Hurricane Harvey, the Texas economy gained 298,600 nonagricultural jobs from August 2016 to August 2017. That's an annual growth rate of 2.5 percent, higher than the nation’s employment growth rate of 1.4 percent.

According to the Real Estate Center's latest Monthly Review of the Texas Economy, the nongovernment sector added 270,800 jobs, an annual growth rate of 2.7 percent, higher than the nation’s employment growth rate of 1.7 percent in the private sector.

Texas’ seasonally adjusted unemployment rate last month was 4.2 perce​nt, lower than 4.7 percent in August 2016. The nation’s rate decreased from 4.9 to 4.4 percent.

All Texas industries except the information industry had more jobs. The mining and logging industry ranked first in job creation followed by other services; manufacturing; transportation, warehousing, and utilities; and financial activities.

All Texas metro areas except Wichita Falls, Abilene, Waco, Beaumont-Port Arthur, San Angelo, and Texarkana, had more jobs. Corpus Christi ranked first in job creation followed by College Station-Bryan, Dallas-Plano-Irving, Sherman-Denison, Killeen-Temple-Fort Hood, and Fort Worth-Arlington.

The state’s actual unemployment rate was 4.5 percent. Amarillo had the lowest unemployment rate followed by Midland, Austin-Round Rock, College Station-Bryan, and Lubbock.

​​​​EL PASO – The city council has approved a $15.2 million incentives package for WestStar Tower, a planned 14-story office tower at 601 N. Mesa St.

Hunt Companies, which purchased the city block in 2014, has teamed up with WestStar bank to develop the $70 million project. 

The tower will include 200,000 sf of office and retail space, park-like green space, and 600 parking spots. 

WestStar will occupy three floors of the tower, have a commercial bank operation on the ground floor, and employ 180 at the location. Hunt Companies will also occupy three floors, bringing in 175 employees.  

Developers expect to open the tower in late 2019 or early 2020.

​WESTLAKE – Charles Schwab & Co. Inc. has broken ground on a 500,000-sf campus on 70 acres in Circle T Ranch.

Phase one of the project will include two office buildings, an amenities building with meeting space and a training center, and a parking garage. ​​The campus will house up to 2,600 employees when it delivers in early 2019. 

The contractor for the project is DPR Construction and the architect is Corgan.

​​AUSTIN – The 2018 Texas Land Conservation Conference is set for Feb. 28–March 2 ​​at the Hilton Austin Airport at 9515 Hotel Dr. The conference is hosted by the Texas Land Trust Council and presented by The Nature Conservancy. ​​

Early bird registration​ closes Dec. 8. ​​For more information, call ​512-358-1000, email tltc@iemshows.com, or visit texaslandconservationconference.com.

​​​​​AUSTIN – PacVentures and Aquila Commercial are turning the vacant Walmart Supercenter at 8201 N. RR 620 into an office building.

The 215,000-sf project, called Preserve at 620, will be completed in April 2018. 

PacVentures purchased the property in August 2016.

​​​​HOUSTON – A recent study by ABODO found that 45 percent of Houstonians spend more than 30 percent of their income on rent. 

​Read the ​full ABODO study here​.

Click on Houston Multifamily Market Research for the latest.

​​FORT WORTH – Coworking office company, WeWork, has leased 44,000 sf in the Offices at Clearfork.

The space leased, located at 5049 Edwards Ranch, will be the company’s first Fort Worth location, and will have enough room to accommodate 850 workers.

In addition to the Fort Worth acquisition, the company just expanded its Legacy West location to accommodate more than 1,000 workers.

​​RELATED: WeWork to Legacy West in Plano​​

Check out DFW Office Market Research.

​​HOUSTON – ​​A local partnership has sold Barrington Apartments, a 308-unit apartment complex on 7.5 acres at 5959 Bonhomme Rd.

Built in 1981, the community offers efficiencies and one- and two-bedroom units averaging 723 sf.​

Marcus & Millichap represented the seller.

​​​SAN ANGELO – ​​The final program in Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service's 2017 series of Rancher Leasing Workshops will be Oct. 19. 

The workshop addresses the legal risks associated with grazing, hunting, and livestock leases, said Tiffany Dowell Lashmet, AgriLife Extension agricultural law specialist in Amarillo. The goal is to educate landowners and producers on the importance of using written leases as a risk management tool.

Attendees will receive a leasing handbook that covers legal issues, designing lease payment structures and calculating payments, and landowner liability. The book also will provide checklists and sample lease forms for negotiating lease agreements.

The workshop will be from 8:30 a.m.-1 p.m. at the Tom Green 4-H Center, 3168 N. US 67. The free program is funded by the Southern Extension Risk Management Education Center. Lunch will be provided by Ag Workers Insurance. 

RSVP at least one week before the meeting to Kim Garcia at 806-677-5626 or kim.garcia@ag.tamu.edu.

​HOUSTON – Mud and silt that washed into the Houston Ship Channel during Hurricane Harvey did not make the waterway significantly shallower.