RECON
Real Estate Center Online News
October 27, 2009
Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Material herein is published according to the fair-use doctrine of U.S. copyright laws related to non-profit, educational institutions. Items attributed to sources other than the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University should not be reprinted without permission of the original source.

TEXAS RANKS HIGH IN GREEN POWER USAGE

WASHINGTON (Environmental Protection Agency) – Several Texas organizations made the EPA Green Power Partnership's Top Partner Rankings because of their high annual green power usage.

The Austin and Round Rock Independent School Districts ranked first and second, respectively, among U.S. schools for using the most power from renewable energy sources. Austin ISD used 65.6 million kilowatt hours (kWh), while Round Rock ISD used nearly 17 million kWh.

Nearby Pflugerville ISD ranked 12th with 996,000 kWh.

The City of Houston was the number one local government in the country with 438 million kWh used annually. The City of Dallas followed with 333.7 million kWh. The City of Austin ranked ninth with 62.5 million kWh, and Dallas–Fort Worth International Airport ranked 11th with 52.5 million kWh.

Within the college and university category, the Texas A&M University System ranked sixth with 43.4 million kWh. It was the only Texas university to make the top 20.

EPA’s Green Power Partnership works with more than 1,100 organizations to voluntarily purchase green power to reduce the environmental impacts of conventional electricity use. Overall, EPA Green Power Partners are buying more than 17 billion kWh of green power annually, equivalent to carbon dioxide emissions from electricity use of nearly 1.7 million American homes annually.

To learn more about greenhouse gas regulation, read "Carbon Nation" in the latest edition of Tierra Grande magazine.

ULI CONFERENCE TAKES GLIMPSE AT 2010

HOUSTON (Urban Land Institute Houston) – Online registration is still open for the Nov. 11 Economic Forecast Conference sponsored by Urban Land Institute (ULI) Houston and the Real Estate Center.

The half-day conference will feature current intelligence about market forces driving investment and development in the greater Houston area.

Following a keynote address from Joe Griffith of JPMorgan Chase Bank, the Center's Chief Economist Dr. Mark Dotzour will moderate an economist panel consisting of Angelos Angelou of Angelou Economics, Bill Gilmer of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas and Jefferson Duarte of Rice University.

A local response panel moderated by Jones Lang LaSalle Houston President Dan Bellow will follow. The panel will include Dan Pickering of Tudor, Pickering & Holt; John Kajander of the Texas Medical Center; and Eric Potts, representing the Houston Airport System.

More information is available on ULI Houston's website.

AUSTIN WATER PLANT APPROVED

AUSTIN (Austin Business Journal) – The city council has voted in favor of funding the city’s fourth water treatment plant, a decision that will create thousands of local jobs.

The $849 million Water Treatment Plant 4 will bring an estimated 3,000 additional construction jobs to Austin.

The current economic climate has allowed the city to build the plant for 20 percent less. However, opponents say the plant will raise water rates by 15 percent.

The plant will sit on 92 acres in northwest Austin at FM 620 and Bullick Hollow Rd. The land was purchased last year with funds approved by a 1984 bond vote.

BRINGING HOME THE SILVER

COLLEGE STATION (Real Estate Center) – It's time to make room in the trophy case. Only 47 awards were given out at the International Association of Business Communicators Southern Region Silver Quill Awards last week. The Real Estate Center brought home two of them.

Art Director Robert Beals, Graphics Specialist/Photographer JP Beato and Assistant Editor Kammy Baumann won a Silver Quill for their design work on the Center's flagship periodical, Tierra Grande magazine.

In addition, Beato won a Silver Quill for one of the magazine's cover photographs.

The Real Estate Center has won more than 200 awards in the last 38 years.

TERRELL PROJECT'S $1 BILLION TIF FUNDING

TERRELL (Dallas Business Journal) – The City of Terrell has approved $1 billion in tax increment financing (TIF) for five developer-partners to develop 4.7 million sf of retail and commercial space — including a hospital — on 4,500 acres.

The Baylor Health Care System, Terrell Market Center, Oakmont Capital Group, Fulton Anderson and Terrell Wally have been approved to develop several projects at the intersection, including the 100-bed Baylor Medical Center at Terrell, which could later be expanded to 400 beds.

The land at SH 80 and I-20 has been purchased, and developers hope to begin retail construction in early 2010. Baylor has not yet started designing the hospital, and it does not have immediate plans to start construction.

When complete, the hospital would be the largest regional medical facility serving Kaufman County and the East Texas region west of Tyler. The hospital would anchor additional medical, office, retail, hotel and other commercial development on surrounding properties.

According to TIF application filings, the development should create about 10,000 new jobs for the city and generate $158 million in public improvements. In addition, it will double the 2009 tax base of over $1 billion for the entire city upon its completion.

CENTRAL INDUSTRIAL SELLS

HOUSTON (globest.com) – A partnership of CC Realty Advisors Ltd. has purchased the 283,841-sf Central Park Northwest from Weingarten Realty Investors.

The 1980s industrial property at 2200–2501 Central Pkwy. has 56 tenants occupying almost 80 percent of its space.

Holliday Fenoglio Fowler LP’s Houston office represented Weingarten, while CC Realty Advisors was self-represented. Frost National Bank provided the financing.

OLYMPUS CATCHES WESTCHASE

HOUSTON (globest.com) – Olympus Properties has purchased the 400-unit Westchase Forest from Drever Real Estate Opportunity Fund LLC.

The Class-A property at 11355 Richmond Ave. is 98 percent occupied. Units at the 1999 complex average 841 sf. Rents are $1.09 per sf.

The seller was represented by Holliday Fenoglio Fowler’s Houston office, and financing was arranged by CBRE Capital Markets.

CAPITAL'S RESIDENTIAL PERMITS GOOD SIGN

AUSTIN (Austin American-Statesman) – A third-quarter increase in builder-issued residential permits is a sign of the capital’s new-home market stabilizing, according to Houston-based Bohlke Consulting Group LLC.

The single-family residential permit tracking firm reported that a total of 2,185 permits were issued between July and September, a 9.2 percent increase over the same period last year.

It was the strongest quarter in more than a year, according to the firm’s vice president of consulting services, Gary Bohlke. This was despite a 45.3 decrease in permits in September from the year’s peak in July.

Bohlke expects builders to seek 6,700 to 7,000 permits this year, up from 2008 numbers.

ALL IN THE FAMILY, ALL UNDER ONE ROOF

HOUSTON (Houston Chronicle) – Data in the 2008 American Community Survey show that about four million American households have three or more generations living under the same roof, and sociologists and demographers expect that trend to increase in the near future.

What is behind the surge in multigenerational households? The recession and baby boomers, experts say.

With layoffs and furloughs, people are moving back in with their parents or other family members to save money. Also, many baby boomers are taking care of their elderly parents as the cost of long-term care soars.

About 4.5 percent of Texas households are multigenerational, the third-highest percentage in the nation, according to U.S. Census data.

DRUG VIOLENCE SPURRING MIGRATION TO EL PASO

EL PASO (Wall Street Journal) – Drug violence in Ciudad Juárez is driving many of the city's entrepreneurs and residents to El Paso in what one local city councilman calls "the largest migration of wealthy Mexican nationals [to El Paso] since the Mexican Revolution."

According to Cindy Ramos-Davidson with the El Paso Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, businesspeople from Juárez started more than 200 companies in the 12 months ending July 31. That's a 40 percent jump from the same period last year.

The city's unemployment rate was 9.8 percent in September. That's the same as the national average but far lower than in other border towns such as Brownsville and McAllen.

Meanwhile, area real estate agents report a bump in home sales to Juárez residents, and the apartment occupancy rate is about 92 percent, higher than occupancy rates in cities such as Houston and Dallas, according to MPF Research.

FREE TEXAS WATERSHED STEWARD TRAINING PLANNED

SEGUIN (Texas AgriLife Extension Service) – Texas watershed steward training will be held Nov. 10 from 8 a.m.–4 p.m. at the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority’s River Annex. The annex is at 905 Nolan St. in Seguin.

The free, one-day class is sponsored by the Texas AgriLife Extension Service and Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board in cooperation with the river authority.

“This program is designed to help watershed residents improve and protect their water resources by showing them how to get involved in local watershed protection and management activities,” said Jennifer Peterson, AgriLife Extension water quality program specialist.

For more information and to preregister, visit the Texas Watershed Steward website.

EPA FUNDS HELP KEEP TEXAS CLEAN

DALLAS (U.S. EPA) – The Environmental Protection Agency has awarded $2.9 million to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

The funds will be used to assist in investigations, emergency responses, cleanup, risk management, alternative water supplies and relocation of residents where leaks from underground storage tanks have occurred and the responsible party is unknown or is unwilling or unable to respond.

MULTI-CITY SELF-STORAGE PORTFOLIO PURCHASED

HOUSTON (Holliday Fenoglio Fowler) – Chicago-based Harrison Street Real Estate Capital LLC has purchased a nine-property self-storage portfolio containing more than 5,300 units and totaling 551,609 sf.

The properties were built between 1994 and 1998. Five are in Houston, two are in Dallas, one is in Austin and one is in San Antonio.

Holliday Fenoglio Fowler's Houston office represented the seller.

BEAUMONT HOME VALUES TO GAIN MOST IN 2010

BEAUMONT (Beaumont Enterprise) – Beaumont is expected to lead the nation in home price appreciation over the next year, says Veros Real Estate Solutions.

According to the California-based company, the Beaumont–Port Arthur market will increase in value by 5 percent in 2010. Veros put the median price of a single-family home at $138,000. A 5 percent increase would be $6,900.

The company analyzed data from about 900 urban counties across the United States.

Last year, Forbes magazine rated the Beaumont market as number one for most equity among U.S. cities.

HEBRON 121 ROLLING INTO LEWISVILLE

LEWISVILLE (Dallas Morning News) – Huffines Communities Inc. expects to break ground next spring on the city's first transit-oriented development.

Part of a 427-acre city reinvestment zone at I-35E and SH 121, Hebron 121 Station will be built around the A-train commuter railway, which won't arrive in Lewisville for at least another year.

Hebron 121 Station will begin with a 90-acre tract that will have more than 1,700 apartments and 20,000 sf of commercial space. At build-out, the project is expected to also have a sports pavilion, amphitheater and athletic fields.

Huffines officials said the project will take five to eight years to complete. Projected cost is between $200 million and $250 million.

@ THE CENTER
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