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Texas Real Estate Research Center issued the following announcement on Sep. 3.
Texas’ manufactured housing industry provides early signal for calming inflation
COLLEGE STATION (Texas Real Estate Research Center) – Supply-chain disruptions fueled inflationary pressures over the past year, but improvements are underway, according to the latest Texas Manufactured Housing Survey. The supply-chain disruption index fell to its lowest level since the survey launched in June 2020, and manufacturers anticipate additional relief through year end."Companies across several industries have been slowly increasing their materials inventory during the past months whenever possible," said Dr. Harold Hunt, research economist with the Texas Real Estate Research Center at Texas A&M University. "In the case of lumber, which is a major input in manufactured housing, waning consumer purchases at the retail level have reduced demand pressure after surging during the pandemic. The price of lumber is currently less than a third of what it was in May."
Lower input costs allowed manufacturers to relax the price of finished homes for the first time this year.
Severe worker shortages, however, pushed up labor costs and hindered industry activity.
"Earlier in the year, a full one-third of folks cited fears of contracting COVID-19 as a reason for not returning to work," said Hunt. "As vaccination rates have increased, this fear has declined. Hopefully, this trend will continue, and workers will reenter the labor force. However, the Delta variant could still be a wildcard."
Manufactured housing production flattened in August as plants may be operating near capacity, but backlogs are still declining as sales inched downward.
"Manufacturers have continued to find ways to expand production despite serious headwinds from supply-chains and the availability of labor to get those backlogs closer to normal," said Rob Ripperda, vice president of operations for the Texas Manufactured Housing Association. "A couple of new plants are scheduled to come online in the next six months that will further help supply catch up with demand."
Industry optimism was relatively widespread, and manufacturers ramped up capital expenditures in an effort to adjust to persistent, yet moderating, supply constraints as well as to satisfy projected growth. Read our latest Texas Quarterly Apartment Report for more.
Texas Medical Center to start on $1.8B Life Sciences Campus
HOUSTON (REBusiness Online) – The Texas Medical Center will break ground on phase one of TMC3, a $1.8 billion life sciences campus.This phase will include:
- 950,000 sf of research space anchored by a 700,000-sf facility developed by Beacon Capital Partners and Braidwell;
- 521-room hotel;
- 65,000 sf of conference space;
- 350-unit residential tower;
- 2,000 parking spaces;
- 18.7 acres of public space; and
- six parks designed by Mikyoung Kim Design.
110-acre mixed-use development slated off US 79
ROUND ROCK (Austin Business Journal) – Indianapolis-based Milhaus is developing the 110-acre Kenney Fort North planned unit development.The property is west of the Kalahari Resort on US 79 and less than a mile from Dell Diamond. It will include:
- retail, office, and hotel space;
- urban-style multifamily residences;
- mixed residential;
- single-family homes and townhouses; and
- 25 acres of parks and open space.
Office, industrial complex gets new life as elementary school
TOMBALL (Realty News Report) – BJ Services' former corporate headquarters has been sold to Tomball Independent School District (ISD).The 70-acre, 568,000-sf Class A office and industrial complex is at 11211 FM 2920. It includes 235,000 sf of office space, 33,000 sf of lab areas, and 300,000 sf of industrial warehouse space.
Tomball ISD will convert the property into an elementary school as well as other educational facilities.
Colliers represented the seller. First Group Commercial Real Estate represented the buyer. Looking for more real estate news? Our NewsTalk Texas feed has all the latest headlines. Here's a sample:
- Juliet Five picks up 32-acre mixed-use site (Dripping Springs)
- CarMax expanding Dallas operations (Plano, Hutchins)
- $35M expansion underway at New Braunfels Public Library
- 219-home community slated for Hutto
- Presidium delivers 408-unit apartment community (Fort Worth)
- Wells Fargo-anchored office building sold (Missouri City)
513K-sf Las Colinas office complex sold to partnership
IRVING (REBusiness Online) – A partnership between Dominus Commercial Inc. and Convergent Capital Partners has acquired a 512,269-sf office complex at 600 Las Colinas Dr.Located within Las Colinas Urban Center, the 22-story property was 77 percent leased at the time of sale.
Amenities include a deli, fitness center, and conference facility.
Newmark represented the seller. The buyers will invest $20 million in capital improvements. Our latest Texas Employment Report has more. Click here to read it.
Parallel building 802-bed student housing community
COLLEGE STATION (REBusiness Online) – Parallel is developing a 298-unit student housing community in the Northgate Campus neighborhood.Amenities will include an outdoor theater, fitness center, sand volleyball court, rooftop pool and hot tubs, outdoor kitchen areas, and fire pits.
The developer entered into a ground lease with the University Lutheran Church of College Station.
Construction will be complete by summer 2023.
S2A Modular assembling 100K-sf factory near Waco
WOODWAY (Waco Tribune-Herald) – S2A Modular is developing a 100,000-sf modular home factory at 1619 Exchange Pkwy.The S2A Texas MegaFactory will employ 250 workers.
Construction will begin in 2022 and be complete in six months.
Apple picks up 217K-sf office building
AUSTIN (Austin Business Journal) – Apple Inc. has purchased Capital Ridge, a seven-story office building at 320 S. Capital of Texas Hwy.Built in 2015, the property totals 217,000 sf.
GLL Real Estate Partners Inc. purchased the building in 2017.