CAPELLA   AUSTIN  NEWSLETTER

March 27, 2022

Austin Named The No. 1 Housing Market For Growth And Stability

Austin Culture Map – 3/25/2022

While the Austin housing market continues to shatter price records, a new study shows it’s the best U.S. market for growth and stability.  The study, published by personal finance website SmartAsset, places Austin at No. 1 among 400 metro areas for housing growth and stability. That’s up from the No. 2 spot last year.

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Austin Metro NNN Average Asking Retail Rent Is At All-Time High, NAI Reports

Connect Media – 3/25/2022

In the first two months into 2022, overall vacancy in the Austin retail market has tightened to 3.7%. Availability is at 4.9%, down 130 basis points from February 2021.  Overall positive trends in leasing activity have driven average retail asking rents higher. The Austin metro NNN average asking rent is at an all-time high of $21.92 per sq. ft., up 4.8% from $20.92 this time last year.

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Ree Automotive Receives Green Light To Develop Its North American HQ in Pflugerville, TX

Connect Media – 3/23/2022

The Pflugerville City Council approved an economic development performance agreement between the Pflugerville Community Development Corporation Board of Directors and REE Automotive, an electric vehicle technology company.

The City Council voted to provide up to $1 million in grants based on REE investing $24.75 million. The eight-year agreement would allow Ree to expand into a nearly 120,000-square-foot facility in the One Thirty Business Park at Pecan and SH130, and the employment of at least 125 full-time jobs throughout the eight-year term.

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Builders Plan 700 New Homes In Two Austin-Area Developments

Austin American Statesman – 3/25/2022

More than 700 new homes are set to be built in two Austin-area developments as area builders continue to try and keep up with the region’s soaring demand for housing .

About 25 miles west of Austin, in rapidly growing Dripping Springs in Hays County, Tri Pointe Homes and M/I Homes said they have started construction on a 188-acre subdivision called Heritage along RR 12 north of U.S. 290.   South of Austin, in the booming Kyle-Buda area, Taylor Morrison said this week that it has kicked off sales in Turner’s Crossing along FM 1327,  east of Interstate 35.

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Austin Tops US For Software Salary Increases During Pandemic

ABJ – 3/22/2022

A new report shows that average software salaries are growing faster in Austin than anywhere else in the nation. Silicon Valley still offers the biggest paychecks. But when job search website Hired.com crunched data from its surveys, it found Austin had the largest increase in average salaries between 2020 and 2021. Local software salaries averaged $139,000 in 2020 and climbed 9% to $151,000 last year, the data showed.

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Real Estate Firm SomeraRoad On Hunt For Deals After Opening Austin Office

ABJ – 3/25/2022

SomeraRoad Inc., a national commercial real estate firm with a history of involvement in large-scale mixed-use projects, is opening an Austin office.  The Austin office — the company’s seventh — will focus on value-add and ground-up development projects. The company said it’s still looking for a space for the new office, but it will be helmed by Brock Kenyon, an Austin native who has been working in the New York City co-headquarters.

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Stonemont Financial Group Coming To Georgetown

Community Impact – 3/25/2022

Stonemont Financial Group, an Atlanta-based private real estate investment firm, announced March 24 closing on a 230,000-sq. ft. industrial facility in Georgetown. The new warehouse, part of the Westinghouse35 development, is set to accommodate the unprecedented growth in corporate, e-commerce and third-party logistics users in Central Texas.

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Rezoning Approved For Television Shopping Network’s Cedar Park Headquarters

ABJ – 3/25/2022

Cedar Park City Council on March 24 unanimously passed the rezoning application to change a 19.5-acre plot at 1700 N. Bell Blvd. to light industrial zoning, which would allow Shop LC Global Inc., a television shopping network, to build at minimum a 200,000-square-foot facility in the suburb north of Austin. It is expected employ at least 1,000 people by 2033, which could make it the city’s largest employer by then.

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Austin Startup Uhnder Thinks Big With Radar Tech For Autonomous Vehicles

Austin American Staetsman – 3/23/2022

Austin-based startup Uhnder makes digital imaging radar technology designed to be used in autonomous vehicles and advanced driver assistance systems.  Its automotive-qualified, digital imaging radar-on-chip is expected to debut this year as part of Magna’s ICON Digital Radar. The tech is also expected to be used in the upcoming Fisker Ocean crossover, which is scheduled to debut this year fromEV startup Fisker.

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Funding Wrap: Fresh $100M For Triumvira; Serent Capital Stockpiles $1.1B

ABJ – 3/21/2022

▶ Austin’s FlashParking Inc. said it landed more than $250 million in a strategic investment led by Austin-based private equity firm Vista Equity Partners.
▶ Triumvira Immunologics Inc., an Austin-based clinical-stage company working on tumor treatments, has expanded its series A round investment to a total of about $100 million.
▶ Austin real estate investment management firm Palladius Capital Management said it raised a $15 million series A round from investors.
Click on the link to read more.

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Active Adult Housing Finally Sprouting In Suburb

ABJ – 3/25/2022

An active adult community for residents ages 55 and up is opening in Pflugerville this fall, adding a much-desired housing type to the suburb north of Austin.  The community, called Amberlin Pflugerville, is a joint development between Austin-based Sparrow Partners LLC and Ohio-based Welltower Inc. The 195-unit community will be the first of its kind in the city, according to developers.

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New 50-Story Residential High-Rise Coming To Downtown Austin

Community Impact – 3/24/2022

Developers broke ground on a new 50-story residential tower at 80 Red River St., Austin, on March 24.  The Travis, a 423-unit luxury development in the Rainey Street District, will overlook Lady Bird Lake. Amenities will include access to hike and bike trails, a clubhouse, rooftop pool, a coffee shop and fitness facilities.   Construction of The Travis is set to be finished in fall 2024.

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Kimley-Horn Expands Its Lease at Office Campus in Austin, Texas

CoStar – 3/24/2022

Kimley-Horn and Associates Inc., a design, engineering and planning firm based in Raleigh, North Carolina, has expanded its footprint in Austin, Texas. Its lease gives Kimley-Horn a larger space at the Campus at Arboretum, an office complex in the popular North Austin area.  The engineering consulting firm added 13,443 square feet at the Campus at Arboretum, bringing its total lease to 43,064 square feet.

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Nate Paul’s Great Value Storage Portfolio Purchased Out Of Bankruptcy For $588M

ABJ – 3/23/2022

The 64 self-storage facilities that comprise the Great Value Storage chain — founded by Nate Paul, and considered by many to be a cornerstone of his real estate portfolio — have been purchased out of bankruptcy in a $588 million deal that closed March 22.

The embattled Austin-based investor is expected to net an estimated $95 million from the deal after creditors and fees are paid, according to bankruptcy documents.  Nearly all of the assets of GVS Texas Holdings I LLC were acquired by a joint venture between a subsidiary of CBRE Group Inc. and The William Warren Group Inc.

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Six Developments Held Back, Four Proceeding In Dripping Springs

Community Impact  – 3/23/2022

The Dripping Springs Planning and Zoning Commission denied project stages in six developments and gave four projects approval to move forward at its March 22 meeting.  The city extended its development moratorium in February.

Among the approved projects was the Caliterra development, a 50-acre plat with 25 homes that was previously denied at the commission’s Jan. 25 meeting due to lacking a sidewalk plan and Hays County approval. The final plat for the Driftwood Golf and Ranch Club, a private residential community centered around a golf club, vineyard and natural amenities, was also denied in January due to lacking an approval letter from Hays County, but it is moving forward as of March.  Click below to read more.

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Arc Capital Partners Completes East Austin’s “Holly Commons” Rebranding

Connect Media  – 3/25/2022

Bain Capital Real Estate teamed with Capitol Seniors Housing to acquire a high-end senior living complex in greater Austin, Texas.

The venture paid an undisclosed amount for Northstar Georgetown, a 210-unit, age-restricted property in Georgetown that houses residents 55 and older. Northstar Georgetown was completed last year on nearly 12 acres east of Interstate 35 near Ascension Seton Williamson Hospital and the Baylor Scott & White Medical Center at 2401 Westinghouse Road.

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SFR Providers Are Increasingly Moving Toward Build-For-Rent

GlobeSt.com – 3/25/2022

Providers of single-family rental homes have increasingly turned to the development of new housing over the past two years.   Data released this week from the National Rental Home Council and John Burns Real Estate Consulting shows that build for rent homes accounted for 26% of properties added to the portfolios of single-family rental home providers in the fourth quarter, up from just 3% in Q3 2019. Meanwhile, acquisitions of existing individual homes by SFR providers decreased from 81% to 57%.

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