We are excited to be welcoming Jarrett Walker as our breakfast keynote speaker at our RECA Exchange on August 12. Walker is a transit consultant based out of the Northwest and author of the book (and blog) Human Transit; he’s best known in Texas for his recent work reimagining the Houston Metro system. Austin is considering a similar effort through Capital Metro’s Service Plan 2025.

Using 31 metrics in areas such as general livability, health and education systems, economic growth and tax rates, personal financial website WalletHub ranked all cities with a population of 300,000 or more.

The University of Texas is asking developers for their ideas on how to transform an entire block of downtown Austin real estate.

Fundamentals in the multifamily space should continue their golden trajectory for several more years, based on the latest numbers about US homeownership from the US Census Bureau. Indeed, coupled with other recent reports on multifamily dynamics, it is safe to call the asset class bullet proof, at least for the medium term.

The Real Estate Council of Austin lamented "that most of the housing being delivered close to the city's largest employment core in downtown is in the form of luxury apartments, upscale single family houses on large lots and high-priced condominiums."

It’s been nearly two years since 13 structures were approved for demolition on Rainey Street to make way for the Millennium Rainey project – a mid-rise "luxury" multifamily project from Houston-based developer Dinerstein.

The development, named Fourth &, will span 130,000 square feet, and include 97 residential units as well as 42,000 square feet of commercial space, the Austin Business Journal reports. The name is intentionally open-ended, the developer told the ABJ.

Strong job growth and a still increasing population has kept Austin among the top five multifamily investment markets and there’s no slowdown on the horizon.

"It is very disruptive for an office occupant to live through a conversion of yesterday’s traditional office environment to today’s modern office environment. As such, the industry is starting to see a significant decline tenants renewing leases in their existing locations...preferring to move into newly converted space as opposed to living through the conversion and resulting disruptions to their core business."

Let’s take a closer look at this landmark a civil rights legislation intended to improve access to "public accommodations" and "commercial facilities", and your options for ensuring compliance.

After a tumultuous week of debate and controversy, Congress will likely kick the transportation can down the underfunded road a little longer.

The multifamily market is white hot, with rents soaring, properties selling for big numbers and new construction booming. But how long will it last? We polled 11 of the top multifamily players, from developers to brokers and even the capital markets folks, at Bisnow's Annual Multifamily Conference in LA this week to find out.

Spending is up, but for experiences—these include trips, restaurants, bars, and distractions—concerts, shows and events.

Date: 8/12/2015
Time: 8:00 am - 1:30 pm
JW Marriott
110 E 2nd St

Date: 8/26/2015
Time: 5:30 pm - 7:30 pm
Urbanspace
801 W 5th St #100

Date: 8/27/2015
Time: 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm
Online Webinar

This webinar serves as a great introduction to the Argus Valuation software for those who have little or no previous experience with the software, or for those who are interested in how it works.

The presenters will take it slow - starting with what you see when you first open the program. They'll take you through how to build an ARGUS model "from scratch" - without relying on the ARGUS Wizard or an existing template.

The presenters will then explain the initial set up of the Property Description pages and introduce the various ways that the Argus software can assist anyone in the valuation of any commercial real estate property.