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​LA PORTE – Construction on Delta, the largest polypropylene production line in the Americas, will start midsummer 2017, according to a June 22, 2017 report.

With the engineering design phase well underway, the new production line will have a manufacturing capacity of 450 kilotons (kt), or the equivalent of approximately one billion pounds, per year.

The construction Delta PP production line is expected to positively impact economic activity in the region, employing approximately 1,000 development and construction workers to fully construct the facility.

Upon final completion, which is targeted for first quarter 2020, the company expects the new line to bring an additional 50 permanent full-time jobs.

Braskem, the company building Delta, will commit up to $675 million in investment capital towards the design and construction of the new facility which will be named Delta and will be located next to Braskem's existing production facilities.​

​Check out Houston Industrial Market Research.

​​HOUSTON – Hotel ZaZa Memorial City, located at 9787 Katy Fwy. at the intersection of I-10 and Bunker Hill, has revealed the global-inspired designs behind 12 luxury suites on the tenth floor.

The suites will range from 471 sf to 966 sf, and the global inspiration behind the designs range from Havana, Cuba, to an African safari.

The 159-room hotel will have more than 13,000 sf of meeting and event space, as well as a signature restaurant and lounge dubbed The Tipping Point.

The 17-story hotel broke ground in October 2015 and will open Dec. 1, 2017.

The hotel will also include luxury residences available for rent on the top floors.​

​Related: Hotel ZaZa paints new skyline in Memorial City

Check out Houston Hotel Market Research​.

​​​MISSOURI CITY – Park 8Ninety, a 127-acre industrial park, has its first tenants.

Park 8Ninety is located at the south corner of U.S. Hwy. 90A and Beltway 8.

Three leases were recently signed at the park, and the tenants are expected to move in soon.

VWR International signed the largest lease of the three, taking 125,251 sf in Building 3/7.

Rexel Inc. leased 96,983 sf in Building 3, suite 100.

Texas AirSystems LLC leased 36,501 sf in Building 1.

​Related: Large Industrial Park Planned for Missouri City​​

​​THE WOODLANDS – The latest housing market data has been released by Community Impact Newspaper.​​​​​​

​Check out more Houston Housing Market Research.

​​​AUSTIN – Austin-based HomeAway is planning an expansion at The Domain, where the nation's largest vacation rental company will establish its global headquarters.

The new 16-story tower will serve as the location, housing more than 2,000 employees, where it now employs more than 1,500 people.

HomeAway's expansion marks its continued rapid growth within the $100 billion vacation rental category, the fastest-growing segment in the travel industry.

The new office building, called Domain 11, is one of two towers planned for the north end of Alterra Pkwy. and is expected to break down in Fall 2017.

HomeAway has leased the entire building, consisting of 315,000 sf of top-tier office space, and could start moving employees in by early 2019.

Employees will be able to walk to Whole Foods Market at the Domain, as well as its restaurants, parks and hundreds of retail stores. 

​​​​SAN MARCOS – A San Francisco buyer acquired the 152-unit, 488-bed Reserve at West End Ave. 

The student housing complex, at 109 West Ave. serves those attending Texas State University.

​Want​ more data? See Austin-San Marcos Multifamily Market Research.

​​HEWITT – Austin-based company, DMA Housing, has received the tax credits it needs to proceed with construction of an 88-unit apartment complex​.

The $13 million project is exclusively for seniors who do not need assisted-living accommodations.

The complex is primarily is for those on fixed incomes and will include one- and two-bedroom apartments as well as cottages with lawns and carports for those with vehicles.

Hewitt City Manager, Adam Miles, said this development is going to be the first of its kind in Hewitt.

The complex will feature urban-style architecture with concrete exterior and stainless steel appliances and rent will average $1,000 to $1,300 for a two-bedroom apartment with a garage.​​

​​DALLAS – Chicago-based Waterton purchased South Side Flats, a one-year-old apartment community, which sits on 4-acre at 1210 Lamar St. in Cedars neighborhood. 

​Want more d​ata? See DFW Multifamily Market Research. 

​​​COLLEGE STATION – A new Academy store has opened its doors June 22, 2017​, just south on Texas 6 from its previous location.

The new location is 71,000 sf, which is 20,000 sf larger than the previous location.

New additions to the store include things like a new reel bar in their fishing section and a larger fan shop that carries pro team items and apparel.

The new store is part of the Oldham Goodwin Group's 54-acre Providence Park at Research Valley development.

Store Director Ed McDowell said finding land close to the previous site was a priority when the retailer was looking to relocate with the aim of opening a bigger store to provide a better shopping experience.

The store opened at eight a.m. Friday June 23, 2017 after a ribbon cutting.​

​​HOUSTON AREA – Enterprise Holdings Inc. plans to open 12 new Houston locations and hire up to 200 entry-level employees by the end of 2017.

Enterprise Holdings operates Enterprise Rent-A-Car, National Car Rental and Alamo Rent A Car brands and has more than 185 offices in Houston.

Seven of the 12 new locations have signed leases; they are at 

• 27200 Northwest Fwy. in Cypress,
  
  
• 23311 FM 1093 at the Grand Pkwy.,
  
  
• 10330 Hwy. 6 in Missouri City,
   
  
• 2965 S. Sam Houston Pkwy. in Pearland,
   
  
• 27030 Kuykendahl Rd. in Tomball,
   
  
• Grand Pkwy. at U.S. 59 South in Sugar Land, and
   
  
• Fry Rd. at FM 529 in Katy.
  

​Check out Houston Retail Market Research.

​​​PEARLAND | FRIENDSWOOD – The latest housing market data has been released by Community Impact Newspaper.​​​​​

​Check out more Houston Housing Market Research.

​​​EL PASO – A Dallas real estate investment firm, Stonelake Capital Partners, has purchased four industrial buildings in East El Paso.

The buildings, with 567,830 sf of warehouse and other industrial space, are located at 12120 to 12170 Rojas Dr. in the Vista Del Sol industrial area.

The four buildings are 59 percent leased and Stonelake is in the process of making improvements to the buildings to attract more tenants, according to a company news release.

Stonelake now owns 13 El Paso-area industrial buildings with 1.2 million sf of space.

​​AUSTIN – Texas small land sales volume had strong gains in 2016, while the average price per acre declined slightly statewide, according to the Texas Small Land Sales Report released today by the Texas Association of Realtors.

Texas small land sales volume jumped 14.2 percent annually to 6,992 small land tracts sold in 2016. During the same time frame, the average price per acre dipped 0.3 percent year-over-year to $5,647 an acre. The definition of a "small" land sale varies from region to region but generally is considered to be a land purchase of 200 acres or less. The exception is Far West Texas, where 500 to 8,000 acres qualifies as a small land sale.

Strong small land sales growth was evident throughout most regions, with purchases in Far West Texas, Northeast Texas, and the Austin-Waco-Hill Country experiencing annual gains of more than 20 percent. Conversely, sales in West Texas declined 20.6 percent from 2015.

As demand for such tracts continued to rise, the average size of land purchased declined. In 2016, the average size declined three acres from 2015 to 36 acres. Far West Texas and South Texas were the only regions that had declines in average price per acre, falling 64.9 percent and 3.9 percent, respectively.

"While the Texas land market remains strong, multiple factors are impacting land sales activity throughout the state," said Real Estate Center Research Economist Dr. Charles Gilliland. "Rising prices of irrigated farmland and a sluggish agricultural sector are driving up land costs in the Panhandle, and residual effects of the oil and gas downturn have slowed small land sales activity in West and South Texas. Statewide, shortages in prime land are stifling land price growth as developers consider less desirable land tracts."

For more from Gilliland on Texas land markets, listen to this week's Real Estate Red Zone podcast​.​

​​​DALLAS – Employment gains of nearly 3 percent or more since 2012 have boosted local demand for both single-family and multifamily dwellings, says Marcus & Millichap in its latest multifamily market report.

Single-family housing supply remains tight, pushing up home prices and keeping many would-be owners in apartments, the firm says.

"Strong rental demand and absorption across the Metroplex have encouraged apartment development," according to the report. "The pace of apartment completions will reach a peak this year as builders are set to bring more units online in Dallas-Fort Worth than nearly every other major metro in the country. It is surpassed only by New York City."

Absorption remains healthy, keeping vacancy historically low. With vacancy staying well below the previous nine-year average, effective rent growth remains strong throughout much of the market.​​​​

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​​SAN ANTONIO – First quarter 2017 saw a record amount of new office construction in the Alamo City, according to the latest office market report from Transwestern.

Of the 1.2 million sf of new office space under construction in the city, 738,000 was started during first quarter 2017 alone.

​​While net absorption of office space was down more than 15,000 sf in the first quarter, absorption is up almost one million sf since the same time last year. The downturn in the quarter was blamed on long-expected givebacks of Class B and C office space. The occupancy for new office deliveries in the area is​ more than 75 percent.

The report also highlighted other positives for the market. Vacancy rates fell to 14.7 percent from 15.1 percent in the fourth quarter. The city's unemployment rate stayed at 4.1 percent, lower than the national average of 4.7 percent, and the San Antonio-New Braunfels MSA saw its seventh straight year of job growth, with 3,200 jobs being added since the end of 2016.​

​​​SAN ANTONIO – Favorable demographic trends and healthy job creation are benefiting local apartment operators, reports Marcus & Millichap in its latest quarterly multifamily market update.

The city's population continues to rise at a faster rate than the nation's, especially among 20-to-34-year-olds, the prime renter cohort.

"As home prices continue to rise faster than incomes, these individuals will continue to favor apartments over homeownership, placing additional downward pressure on vacancy and encouraging rent gains​," Marcus & Millichap's report said.

New apartment construction began 2017 at a slower pace than a year ago, so rental demand remains strong, pushing down the vacancy rate.

Much of the demand is occurring in the Class C segment, where vacancy has compressed to 5.5 percent over the last year. Surging Class A completions, meanwhile, have softened vacancy among these assets, pushing up the rate to 9 percent in the first quarter.

"The use of concessions to lure tenants to these buildings has increased dramatically in the last four quarters as owners seek to stabilize new properties," according to the report. "Declining deliveries will bode well for these assets this year, allowing demand to catch up with supply. As a result, the metro will experience further tightening in the overall vacancy rate for a third consecutive year."

​​HOUSTON – Rising energy prices have meant more hiring in energy-related industries, boosting demand for local ​Class B and C apartments.

In its latest multifamily market report, Marcus & Millichap says Class C vacancy remains the tightest, hovering in the high 5 percent area. As a result, effective rents for Class B and C units continue to rise, with Class C properties recording gains of more than 3 percent in each quarter since the energy downturn.

Class A apartments, specifically in western submarkets, are seeing the largest impact from energy industry cuts. Vacancy in this segment topped 10 percent in the first quarter, with some submarkets nearing 20 percent. As deliveries of luxury apartments remain elevated this year, further increases in vacancy will reduce the Class A effective rent.​​

​​​​​DALLAS – Ryan Street Developers LLC has purchased a 218,409-sf warehouse at 10848 Lunda Rd.

The property has 28-foot clear heights, eight drive-in doors, a fenced yard, and rail service.

Stream Realty Partners represented Ryan Street. Avison Young represented the seller. ​

​​​HOUSTON – Mattress Firm has consolidated two corporate locations into a 130,000-sf ​building, dubbed the BEDQuarters, at 10201 S. Main St.

Architecture​ and interior design firm tvdesign designed the headquarters building. 

​​​ARLINGTON – ​​General Motors and NorthPoint Development have broken ground on Arlington Automotive Logistics Center​, a two-building, 1.2 million-sf industrial property.

Bob Moore Construction is the general contractor for the center, which will house about 1,250 employees. ​

The project is slated for completion in 2018.