RECON: Texas Real Estate & Economy Newsletter

News on Texas Real Estate and Economy 

Pflugerville Mixed-Use Gets $303 Million Incentives Package

PFLUGERVILLE (Austin American-Statesman) – City council members this week unanimously approved an economic development agreement with the developers of Pflugerville Crossing, a large mixed-use project that will cost more than $600 million to complete.

The project, which calls for 22 restaurants, entertainment venues, a luxury hotel, three business-class hotels, and about 1.6 million sf of office space, will be on 119 acres along the SH 130 toll road near FM 685. It’s expected to create almost 10,000 jobs, directly and indirectly.

Under the agreement, Pflugerville Crossing LP will receive a 75 percent refund of city sales and property taxes, up to $303 million over 30 years. For its part, the developer must make a one-time $200,000 payment to the city and fund $85 million in infrastructure.

Infrastructure construction is expected to start this year. The project could be built out within five years.

Existing Home Sales, Prices Up in December

COLLEGE STATION (Real Estate Center) – Existing single-family home sales and prices in Texas were up last month from a year ago, according to the latest Multiple Listing Service data compiled by the Real Estate Center.

More than 23,300 homes were sold in December compared with 20,775 a year ago — a 12 percent jump. Nearly 284,650 homes were sold in Texas last year, data showed.

The median price was up 9 percent, from $175,800 to $191,900.

Housing inventory was at 3.1 months, well below the 6.5 months the Center considers a balanced market.

Housing data for most Texas markets is available on the Center’s website.

465,703-SF North Texas Office Trio Trades Hands

DALLAS (HFF) – DRA Advisors LLC has purchased a three-building North Texas office portfolio totaling 465,703 sf. The seller was Harbert Management Corporation.

The 165,434-sf 5000 Quorum Dr. building is on 4.5 acres between the Dallas North Tollway and Inwood Rd. in Dallas. It has seven stories and is 77.2 percent leased.

At nine stories and 181,737 sf, Quorum Place is the largest of the three buildings. The 78.2 percent leased building is on 5.4 acres at 14901 Quorum Dr. in Addison, north of the 5000 Quorum Dr. property.

Also in Addison is Quorum North, located at 13201 Spectrum Dr. It is on 2.8 acres northeast of the other two properties. The 118,532-sf, five-story building is 75.7 percent leased.

The properties were purchased free and clear of debt. HFF secured three separate three-year, floating-rate loans through OneWest Bank.

Rockwell Management Buys Westchase Office Property

HOUSTON (HFF) –HFF announced this week that it has closed the sale of and secured acquisition financing for the nearly 187,000-sf office building at 9990 Richmond Ave. in the city’s Westchase District.

The firm marketed the property on behalf of the seller, a joint venture between Fuller Realty Partners LLC and Harbert Management Corporation.

Rockwell Management Corporation purchased the property free and clear of debt.

HFF also secured a ten-year, fixed-rate acquisition loan on behalf of the new owner through Natixis Real Estate Capital Inc.

The four-story building sits on 5.6 acres at the northeast corner of Richmond and Briarpark, half a mile from the Sam Houston Tollway.

It is currently 92.2 leased. Tenants include Seismic City, Costello, Norris Conference Centers, U.S. Navy Recruiting, DBR Engineering and Selene Finance.

Turnkpike West Warehouse Building Breaks Ground

DALLAS (Holt Lunsford Commercial) – Holt Lunsford Commercial broke ground Wednesday on a 259,672-sf warehouse building at I-30 and Chalk Hill Rd. on the city’s south side.

The freestanding, single-tenant Turnpike West building will have a secured trailer lot with 72 slips.

Cadence McShane is the general contractor, and Pacheco Koch is the civil engineer. RGA Architects is also on the project team.

Galleria Aloft Boutique Hotel Sells

HOUSTON (HFF) –HEI Hotels & Resorts has sold the Aloft Houston Galleria, 152-room boutique hotel on nearly one acre at 5415 Westheimer Rd. in the Galleria/Uptown area.

Built in 2009, the five-story hotel has 112 king, 30 double queen, five accessible king and five accessible queen guest rooms.

HFF represented the seller. HEI will continue to manage the property.

Arlington Rallies Behind $30 Million Champions Park

ARLINGTON (Fort Worth Star-Telegram) – The city council earlier this week approved a nearly $30 million mixed-use development that is expected to bring new shops, bars and restaurants to the city’s north side.

Greenway Investment of Dallas plans to build Champions Park on 14 acres on the northeast corner of Collins St. and I-30.

Phase-one plans include about 84,000 sf of restaurant and retail space built around an outdoor festival area.

A second phase would have either offices and more retail or a boutique hotel and movie theater with a parking garage and additional restaurants and shops.

Public Invited to Comment on 2015 Planned Road Projects

AUSTIN (TxDOT) – The Texas Department of Transportation held a public meeting earlier this week to begin collecting feedback on 201 road projects the agency plans to tackle this year.

The new construction and maintenance projects (click here for a searchable list that offers a description of all projects, their physical locations and costs) will be funded in part using Proposition 1 dollars approved by Texas voters last November.

The agency will continue to accept formal public comments on the projects through Feb. 23. Comments may be submitted via email to TPP_UTP@txdot.gov; by phone at 800-687-8108; or by mail to Texas Department of Transportation, attention: James Koch – UTP, P.O. Box 149217, Austin, TX 78714-9217.

Later this month, the Texas Transportation Commission will be presented a draft group of projects for consideration, and then will vote on its approval in February.

This story originally published on RECON (Real Estate Center Online News). It is reprinted here with RECON’s permission. Texas Real Estate Center is part of Texas A&M University