Austin earned first place in the Forbes ranking of the 65 largest metropolitan areas [...]]]> Energy-rich Texas cities dominated the annual Forbes list of Best City for Jobs supported by the addition of some 200,000 generally high-paying oil and gas jobs over the past decade, but Texas is also leading in industrial job growth, technology and services.

Austin earned first place in the Forbes ranking of the 65 largest metropolitan areas with noted growth in manufacturing, technology-related employment and business services. 

Employment data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics covering November 2000 through January 2012 was used to determine the best cities for jobs. Rankings are based on recent growth trends, mid-term growth, long-term growth and the region’s momentum.

Click to read full article: The Best Citites for Jobs (Forbes, May 1, 2012)

The property will be developed as a K thru 12 parochial school operated by [...]]]> NAI REOC Austin recently assisted in the sale of 42.6 acres on Heatherwilde Blvd. in Pflugerville, Texas. The site is located near existing and future mixed-use residential developments and is situated only one mile north of the Dell Computer Campus in Austin. 

The property will be developed as a K thru 12 parochial school operated by the Lutheran School Association.  The school will be perfectly positioned to serve the community with an academically-advanced private school.

Kurt VanderMeulen, Senior Vice President, and Joyce Jane Weedman, Senior Vice President, both with NAI REOC Austin represented the seller - Otello Investment Management, LLC.  The Buyer was represented by Paul Joseph of Paul Joseph Commercial, Inc.

Auburn Hills, Michigan-based US Farathane Corp. is readying its new 242,579 square-foot manufacturing facility at Tech Ridge Section Four located at 820 W. Howard Lane.   The plastic automobile component manufacturer is expected to hire over 200 employees to man its new Northeast Austin facility.

Click to read Blue-collar jobs coming to Austin (Austin Business [...]]]>

Tech Ridge 4

Auburn Hills, Michigan-based US Farathane Corp. is readying its new 242,579 square-foot manufacturing facility at Tech Ridge Section Four located at 820 W. Howard Lane.   The plastic automobile component manufacturer is expected to hire over 200 employees to man its new Northeast Austin facility.

Click to read Blue-collar jobs coming to Austin (Austin Business Journal, 5-4-12)

The City of Leander recently annexed the largest single piece of land in the city’s history.  The property, known as Crystal Falls West is located near FM 1431 and Nameless Rd. on the city’s southwest edge and spans 1,831 acres (approximately 2.86 square miles).  

Although most of the land is currently undeveloped, the owner, [...]]]>

City of Leander

The City of Leander recently annexed the largest single piece of land in the city’s history.  The property, known as Crystal Falls West is located near FM 1431 and Nameless Rd. on the city’s southwest edge and spans 1,831 acres (approximately 2.86 square miles).  

Although most of the land is currently undeveloped, the owner, Texas developer Lookout Partners, has plans for future development featuring residential with commercial and multi-family zones along major thoroughfares with some land set aside for future schools, park use and a fire station.

Click to read full article: Leander annexes largest property in city’s history (Community Impact News, 5-3-12)

Crystal Falls was listed among the 50 top-selling U.S. master plans in 2011.  For more information, visit the Crystal Falls website or click to read Grand Plan for Leander (Austin Business Journal)

The Austin office market posted a strong first quarter performance supported by continued job growth.  According to the first quarter survey of nearly 42.5 million square feet of office space, the Austin office market fundamentals continued to improve reflecting stable rental rates and decreased vacancy.   New leases and expansions generated 126,410 [...]]]>

Source: NAI REOC Austin

The Austin office market posted a strong first quarter performance supported by continued job growth.  According to the first quarter survey of nearly 42.5 million square feet of office space, the Austin office market fundamentals continued to improve reflecting stable rental rates and decreased vacancy.   New leases and expansions generated 126,410 square feet of positive net absorption which improved the citywide vacancy rate to 16.9% compared to 17.4% last quarter. 

The average quoted rental rate for office space in the Austin area currently stands at $26.03 per square foot per year – up slightly from last quarter.  Meanwhile, vacancy within the top-tier, Class A properties moved to 16.1% down from 16.7% last quarter and posted an average quoted rental rate of $27.86.  

In the downtown submarket, a diversified tenant base has tightened the vacancy rate to 13.9% with the CBD Class A submarket now standing at 12.4% – a level that has prompted proposals for new development.  Although there were no new deliveries in the first quarter and no speculative projects currently under construction to impact the market this year, Cousins Properties, Inc. announced plans to build a 30-story office tower containing 390,000 square feet of office space at Third and Colorado streets.  This would be the first major office project in the CBD since 2003.  Downtown is not the only area targeted for new growth.  Endeavor is ready to proceed with three suburban office projects including Domain One – an 182,000 square-foot building at The Domain.

In spite of concerns regarding the nation’s lackluster economic recovery, the outlook for the Austin market remains positive.  Although landlords with space to fill are still willing to offer moderate concessions, the pendulum may be starting to swing in the landlord’s favor.  Much of the space that was built and left vacant when the economy spiraled into recession has been filled and large blocks of contiguous space are getting harder to find.

For more information, click to read the 1Q 2012 Office Source Report.

For additional information, click to read the related article: Rein: Developers itching for project movement (Austin Business Journal, 4-26-12)

Stubb’s Bar-B-Q Sauce recently relocated its headquarters operations to an 8,000-square-foot office at 1219 W. Sixth St. after failing to come to an agreement with South Austin residents regarding the vacant SoCo church building they hoped to redevelop.

Click to read Stubb’s Bar-B-Q Sauce chooses W. Sixth St. for new HQ (Austin [...]]]>

1219 W. Sixth St.

Stubb’s Bar-B-Q Sauce recently relocated its headquarters operations to an 8,000-square-foot office at 1219 W. Sixth St. after failing to come to an agreement with South Austin residents regarding the vacant SoCo church building they hoped to redevelop.

Click to read Stubb’s Bar-B-Q Sauce chooses W. Sixth St. for new HQ (Austin Business Journal, 4-26-12) and Stubb’s plan riles neighbors (Austin Business Journal,

According to a recent article in The Statesman, The Sutton Co. has two acres under contract wrapping Rainey, Driskell and East Ave. with plans to build two residential towers that could reach as tall as 50 stories.  Together, the towers could accommodate as many as 800 to 1,000 apartment and condominium units.  Tower One, which [...]]]>

Planned Sutton Co Rainey Development

According to a recent article in The Statesman, The Sutton Co. has two acres under contract wrapping Rainey, Driskell and East Ave. with plans to build two residential towers that could reach as tall as 50 stories.  Together, the towers could accommodate as many as 800 to 1,000 apartment and condominium units.  Tower One, which would also feature some hotel rooms, has an estimated development price tag of $75 million to $100 million.  The project still has a number of hurdles to pass before approved to move forward and is at least a year to 18 months from breaking ground.

Click to read Developer planning two high-rises at downtown Austin’s southeast edge (Austin American Statesman, 4-17-12)

The Austin industrial market got off to a slow but positive start in the first quarter, according to the survey of more than 37.2 million square feet of industrial space.  New leases and expansions that commenced between the first of January and the end of March generated 151,792 square feet of [...]]]>

Source: NAI REOC Austin

The Austin industrial market got off to a slow but positive start in the first quarter, according to the survey of more than 37.2 million square feet of industrial space.  New leases and expansions that commenced between the first of January and the end of March generated 151,792 square feet of positive net absorption in area industrial properties. 

As a result, the citywide vacancy rate improved to 17.6% compared to 17.8% last quarter and 20.2% recorded in the same quarter last year.  Vacancy is expected to see further improvement as advance notice for second quarter absorption reveals several large leases which have already been signed and are set to begin in April and May. 

Healthy demand and leasing velocity have vacancy rates headed in the right direction but increases in rental rates have been slow and did not show any significant change over the quarter.  With no new speculative development in the works for this year, tenant expansions and company relocations are expected to tighten the vacancy rate which will put upward pressure on asking rental rates.  The lack of new space options will likely promote horizontal movement within the market as tenants search out buildings to meet their space needs and budgets.

Click to download the 1Q 2012 Industrial Source Report for more information.

Click to read related article: Austin industrial vacancy rate to see improvement (Austin Business Journal – Breaking Ground Blog, 4-11-12)