NewsTalk Texas

AUSTIN - The American Widow Project, founded by Austinite Taryn Davis after her husband, Cpl. Michael Davis, was killed in Iraq in 2007, now offers classes for military widows struggling to move on with their lives.

The program, called WidowU, offers courses in four areas: back to school, pursuing passions, overcoming obstacles, and health and fitness. The courses take place over a long weekend roughly once a month in Austin.

Class size is capped at six and Davis says the events are filling up in about 30 seconds. Austin was chosen, she says, to be the breeding ground for the fire to be ignited in these military widows’ lives because of its entrepreneurial spirit and creativity. Davis wanted to put these women in that environment.

The American Widow Project is where Davis says, “We see a world where women can lead self-sufficient lives and affect change in their own lives and their own communities.”

WidowU provides military widows with the tools, empowerment and education for the next steps on their journey.

Read more at the American Widow Project, WidowU and the Austin American-Statesman,

Listen to Podcast 173 for this story...and more!

AUSTIN - Austin homes are selling within six weeks on average, according to a new report released Tuesday by the Austin Board of Realtors. The volume of home sales — $794.2 million in April — increased for the 23rd consecutive month. April had the most home sales in Austin since 2004. Townhouse and condo sales also experienced a rapid uptick.

Here’s some other statistics for April from the report:

• 2,563 homes sold, 32 percent more than a year ago.

• The median price was $227,250, 8 percent more than a year ago.

• The average number of days on the market was 50, 19 days fewer than a year ago.

• There were 2,976 pending sales, 20 percent more than a year ago.

• 250 townhouses and condos were sold in April, 31 percent more than a year ago.

• The median price for a townhouse or condo was $201,250, 17 percent more than a year ago.

• The average number of days on the market was 41, 47 percent less than a year ago.

• 1,273 properties were leased, 14 percent more than a year ago.

• The median price for a lease was $1,400 a month, 8 percent more than a year ago.

Read more at the Austin Business Journal.

AUSTIN - The area loosely bounded by I-35 and Mopac Expy. to the east and west, and by 12th St. and Ben White Blvd. to the north and south, is seeing one of the largest apartment construction booms in recent memory.

Six projects totaling 1,682 units were recently completed or are near completion, and another 13 projects totaling 3,402 units are projected for completion in 12 to 24 months, according to data from Austin Investor Interests LLC.

Whitley at Brazos and East Third streets delivered 75 of 266 units in early April 2013, with published lease rates in excess of $3 per sf — or $3,000-plus for a two-bedroom, 1,000-sf apartment. Other units scheduled to be delivered soon are expected to garner rents of $2 or more per sf.

Nineteen projects totaling 5,084 units in or close to that box — including two projects, Eleven and RiverView, just east of I-35 — are near completion or expected to be delivered in the next 24 months.

In addition, the District at SoCo and Post South Lamar, both north of Ben White Blvd. in South Austin, were finished recently for a total of 513 units.

Read more at the Austin Business Journal.

AUSTIN - Office properties have been trading at a rapid clip since the first of the year, resulting in nearly 3 million sf of commercial space being sold to a wide variety of investors through April, according to information provided by Kennedy Wilson.

More than $386 million worth of properties changed hands. That’s a very conservative estimate.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc.’s Lone Star Campus at 851,000 sf sold to Spear Street Capital for $164 million or $192.52 per sf.

Cousin Properties Inc. of Atlanta purchased 816 Congress Ave. for $102.4 million from Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. With 433,024 sf, that equates to $236.48 per sf.

Thomas Properties Group’s sold of its suburban portfolio to KBS Strategic REIT Inc. for about $76 million. The ten-building portfolio was composed of three complexes: Westech 360 on North Capital of Texas Hwy., Great Hills Plaza at 9600 Great Hills Trail and 8601 RR 2222. The Great Hills Plaza complex at 135,333 sf commanded a price of about $28 million or $206.91 per sf.

Bridgepoint Plaza I and II near the Pennybacker Bridge off of North Capital of Texas Hwy. sold for almost $36.5 million or $205 per sf. The buyer was TA Associates in Boston.

La Costa Centre in North Austin sold to Houston-based Boxer Property in partnership with the largest building tenant, Emergency Service Partners. The 87,900-sf building sold for a little more than $7 million or about $80 per sf.

Read more at the Austin Business Journal.

HUTTO - Hutto’s first-ever community college campus is in the final stages of construction and is scheduled for completion in July. Construction on the $17 million, 117,000-sf building has lasted about one year.

Classes are scheduled to start at the new East Williamson County Higher Education Center, 1600 County Road 108 in northwestern Hutto, on Aug. 26.

The college is being run under an agreement between Temple College and Texas State Technical College: Temple College will lease the building, which will be owned by Texas State Technical.

The technical college will offer culinary and other vocational programs, including those on air conditioning, construction, plumbing, pipefitting, engineering technology and welding.

The facility will include approximately 50,000 sf of industry-standard lab space.

Temple College will offer academic classes at the center, including math, English, health sciences, criminal justice and business management.

Read more at the Austin American-Statesman.

AUSTIN - Austin Oaks Hospital, a new 80-bed psychiatric hospital and inpatient treatment facility, has opened.

The facility on West Stassney Ln. offers care for children, adolescents and adults, and is expected to see its first patients in early June. With more than 51,000 sf and more than 200 employees, Austin Oaks is a sister hospital to Austin Lakes Hospital on 32nd St. in the St. David’s Pavilion.

The $17 million facility is a replacement for The Oaks Treatment Center, which operated on the same site and was closed in 2009.

Read more at the Austin Business Journal.

AUSTIN - Continuing on their upswing, Central Texas home sales jumped 32 percent last month, the highest level for an April in nine years, the latest figures show.

The area’s median home price rose 8 percent from April 2012, with a median price of $227,250, the Austin Board of Realtors said in its monthly report.

The board said 2,563 single-family homes were sold in April, compared with 1,937 last April, making it the 23rd month in a row of year-over-year sales increases.

Homes in the Austin-area homes sold in an average of 50 days in April, compared with 69 days in April 2012.

According to national real estate brokerage Redfin, 46.6 percent of new listings in Austin are under contract within two weeks of hitting the market.

The number of homes on the market was down 25 percent, with 5,488 active listings. Pending sales were up 20 percent, with 2,976 sales in the pipeline to close.

“No doubt Austin’s housing market is hot,” Ed Friedman, a director in Moody’s Analytics office in West Chester, Penn. said by email. “CoreLogic house price data show that prices have fully recovered to their 2007 peak — not many metro areas can boast that.”

Read more at the Austin American-Statesman.

AUSTIN - Multifamily occupancy in Austin rose .22 percent during first quarter 2013 to reach 95.1 percent, according to Austin Investor Interests. Rental rates were up 2.3 percent, bringing the current average to $1.12 per sf. Absorption figures recovered as well, with 1,093 more units occupied.

Currently, there are over 16,400 units already under construction throughout the Austin area.

While the first quarter saw the addition of 1,101 new units, developers anticipate adding approximately 9,300 new units over the next 12 months. Here are some quick facts from the Austin multifamily market:

• Average occupancy — 95.1 percent;
• Average rent — $958;
• Average SF — 851;
• Average rent/SF — $1.12;
• New units added (conventional) — 1,101; and
• Average sales price/unit — $76,794.
   

Source: Austin Investor Interests

LAKEWAY - A retail development planned for the community of Lakeway will include a 90,000-sf H-E-B grocery store set to open in 2015.

The development known as Lakeview Town Center, announced by Stratus Properties, is set to break ground in 2014. It will include 240,000 sf of mixed retail and residential space on 75 acres at Glen Heather Drive off of RM 620 northwest of Austin.

In addition to the H-E-B, the development will be anchored by a dining-oriented movie theater such as Alamo Drafthouse or Studio Movie Grill.

Read more at the San Antonio Business Journal and the Austin American-Statesman.

BEE CAVE - Lake Travis ISD has started construction for its sixth elementary school, set within the West Cypress Hills subdivision. Constructing LTISD Elementary School #6 will cost $18.2 million.

The 103,000-sf school will be able to accommodate 850 students. It will be located on Cypress Ranch Blvd. off Hwy. 71 in Bee Cave.

LTISD employs a demographics firm Population and Survey Analysts (PASA) to project its needs based on growth within the district. Another elementary school may be needed in 2018 for the fast-growing Sweetwater and Rough Hollow developments.

The demographers indicate that LTISD enrollment is increasing by approximately 400 students annually. Enrollment increased by 33 percent over the past five years.

Read more at Community Impact Newspaper.

GEORGETOWN - Real estate market data for the Georgetown Multiple Listing Service area by zip code for April and previous months include:

Source: Austin Board of Realtors

Read more at the Community Impact Newspaper.

ROUND ROCK, PFLUGERVILLE, HUTTO - Real estate market data for the Round Rock, Pflugerville, Hutto area by zip code have been released. Here's the latest.

Source: Austin Board of Realtors

Read more at the Community Impact Newspaper.

AUSTIN - The face of Mueller is changing again. The 700-acre former Mueller Airport site is primarily a neighborhood, but the most readily visible development is the new retail center taking shape at 51st and Berkman Drive.

Named The Mueller Market District, the retail will be anchored by the H-E-B supermarket scheduled to open in July.

The new 83,000-sf H-E-B is currently under construction. Among other businesses scheduled to move into the district are Twin Liquors, Xian Sushi, Verts (German kebaps), and a Subway franchise.

Surrounding projects already in progress include:

• a Marriott Residence Inn rising on 51st, just north of the new retail site;
• Austin ISD's regional Performing Arts Center (which just broke ground);
• a new patient wing for the Dell Children's Medical Center (just completed);
• Austin Children's Museum, across from Mueller Central overlooking the Lake Park; and
• the Pecan Street laboratory building.

AMLI Residential will be developing a multifamily site just east of the Children's Museum (expected to break ground by June), and a block beyond that to the northeast is Paggi Square, a 221-home mixed-model development.

On Mueller's southern edge, Wildflower Terrace, a 55+ residential and mixed-use development on the southern end of Berkman, opened in 2012.

Transportation is also part of the mix, with bus lines already integrated and bike lanes running along boulevards.

Read more at The Austin Chronicle.

AUSTIN - In the hospital’s first major expansion since it opened in 2007, the third bed tower at Dell Children’s Medical Center of Central Texas opened May 6, 2013. The new $48 million building now has more specialized care centers and 72 beds, bringing the hospital total to 249 beds.

It also will bring a battery of specialty staff to man expanded programs for childhood epilepsy, rehabilitative care, and bone, joint, spine and sports medicine.

Hospital officials are already looking ahead to a fourth bed tower that would likely be built in the next three to six years to help address a growing demand for trauma services.

Dell Children’s expected about 150 to 200 trauma cases per year when it opened, but last year it had 950 admissions, CEO Bob Bonar said. In 2012, Dell Children’s admitted 8,300 children.

Read more at the Austin Business Journal and Austin American-Statesman.

BUDA - Buda City Council approved annexation of 654.96 acres of land around the city’s limits on April 30, 2013. The annexation was part of Buda’s annual growth plan approved by City Council.

According to Mayor Todd Ruge, the largest piece of the annexation, about 619.77 acres located east of FM 967 and south of Windmill Way, was annexed in anticipation of industrial commercial growth in the city.

Also included in the annexation plan was a group of three parcels of land in the northwest corner of Main St. and I-35 that totaled 34.19 acres.

Read more at the Community Impact Newspaper.

AUSTIN - Endeavor Real Estate Group broke ground on an unconventional office project in East Austin.

The two-story, 30,100-sf building planned for 2021 E. Fifth St. will have a contemporary design. It is aimed at the businesses of the creative class, such as architectural and public relations firms, while exploring a part of town with solid hipster credentials.

One of Austin’s largest advertising and marketing agencies – EnviroMedia Social Marketing – has signed on as the anchor tenant, leasing almost 21,000 sf.

Reclaimed bricks from a historic University of Texas building will cover about 60 percent of the building’s exterior. The project will also include solar-paneled carports, an electric vehicle charging station and room for a vegetable garden and dog run.

The emphasis will be on fun. The interior buildout will include a slide from the second to the first floor. Estimated construction valuation is $3.5 million.

Finding creative spaces has become a challenge in Austin as more tech firms have swallowed up many of the older offices in places like Penn Field and the Perry Brooks building.

Read more at the Austin Business Journal.

AUSTIN - Commercial real estate in Austin has come back in a big way. Commercial vacancies across market types continue to drop, investor interest is intense, and speculative office development is in the works.

The market is hot according to industry leaders from CBRE Group Inc., Austin Investor Interests LLC, Oxford Commercial, Endeavor Real Estate Group and Stream Realty.

Even retail development and investment, which often lag behind the other sectors, is clicking along on all cylinders. Multifamily development and investment continues its torrid pace.

Some 111 properties traded hands in 2012, and the market continues to be strong with off-market transactions accounting for 25 percent of recent sales. Nearly 40 percent of all of 2012’s deals were transacted in fourth quarter.

One very attractive factor to investors is the fact that Austin is a strong landlord’s market with vacancy rates dropping into the single digits in the Southwest submarket and in Class B properties in the Central Business District.

In the meantime, Endeavor Real Estate Group is moving forward with one project that had been on hold for some time, the Champion Office Park at Capital of Texas Hwy. and RM 2222.

Read more at the Austin Business Journal.

CEDAR PARK - Building permits continue to increase year over year and exceed expectations.

The city issued 161 single-family residential building permits in fiscal year second quarter 2013, up five from the same time last year and 21 more than it collected in first quarter.

Commercial building permits also increased slightly to 30, up one from the same January-March time frame last year and 12 more than the previous quarter.

The 191 combined permits helped the city collect $447,919 in revenue during 2Q 2013.

Across Cedar Park, there are 44 new projects, including 19 under review and 25 under construction.

Read more at the Community Impact Newspaper.

AUSTIN - The average market value for homes in Hays County increased 1.9 percent, to $166,167 from $163,005, preliminary figures show.

For the entire Hays appraisal roll, preliminary 2013 market values for commercial and residential properties rose 5.1 percent from 2012 levels, $15.8 billion from $15 billion in 2012.

Most of that value comes from residential, apartment and commercial growth. Hays County saw more than 1,600 new improvements which added more than $412 million to the taxable value for 2013.

Residential and commercial values for 2013 also rose in Travis and Williamson counties. In Travis County, the average residential market value was up 5 percent, to $284,149 from $270,805. In Williamson County, the average market value of homes increased about 2 percent, to $190,640 from $187,088.

Read more at the Austin American-Statesman.

AUSTIN - Cousins Properties Inc. completed its purchase of 816 Congress Avenue within weeks. The 20-story, 433,024-sf office building was originally developed by Cousins.

The price of the office building is $103.5 million, with the net price after various credits and other provisions set at $101.5 million, according to SEC filings.

The building is 78 percent leased. Three major tenants account for 26 percent of the leased space: Teacher Retirement System of Texas; the United States Attorney's office; and a law firm.

Earlier this year, Atlanta-based Cousins doubled its holdings in Texas with the acquisition of the three-building Post Oak Central office complex in Houston's Galleria submarket.

Cousins also owns 2100 Ross, a 33-story, 843,728-sf office tower in Dallas, a 203,000-sf suburban office property in Richardson, and a pair of office buildings in Austin totaling 373,000 sf.

Read more at CoStar Group and SaportaReport.