Top Stories
Our first white paper in January called for the City of Austin to add at least 100,000 new housing units over the next ten years to stabilize prices and tackle Austin’s affordability crisis. It also called for more diversity in housing types such as garage apartments, micro-units, row houses, etc. In the newest paper, we diagnose the barriers that are making this goal difficult to achieve. There are two main obstacles to building the housing that we desperately need:
Visit http://www.reca.org/blog/post/fixable-barriers-continue-to-make-housing-less-affordable to view the full article online.
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At the beginning of the year, woes in the energy sector made Texas a potential problem spot for the building industry. In the earnings reports that just wrapped up, the state indeed turned out to cause a blemish in an otherwise strong earnings season for many builders. But energy woes, generally, haven’t been the problem. Instead, it was the weather wreaking havoc on starts and orders. Spring’s torrential rains kept buyers at home and, perhaps more importantly, delayed starts for many builders.
Visit http://www.builderonline.com/building/weather-issues-could-plague-texas-builders-for-rest-of-the-year_o to view the full article online.
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Local News
If you believe everything you read, you know by now that 110 people move to the booming Austin region every single day. While not all of the 110 people settle within the city limits, those that do will soon have a few more food and drink options in East Austin. Here’s a rundown of some of the restaurants and bars under construction on the Eastside as of August 2015:
Visit http://buildingatx.com/2015/08/east-austin-restaurant-roundup-august-2015-photos/ to view the full article online.
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National News
American cities are riding a wave of renewed interest in urban living that revved up in the mid-‘90s and quickly reinforced itself with plummeting crime rates, improving schools and expanded infrastructure. Foreigners fleeing economic skittishness at home have stashed their thick wads of cash in Manhattan skyscrapers and Beverly Hills compounds. And 20 years after many predicted the Internet would all but eliminate the need for traditional office space, the latest tech boom has made corporate life more centralized than ever in live/work/play downtowns and city neighborhoods, until recently considered fringe.
Visit https://www.bisnow.com/national/news/affordable-housing/billy-affordable-housing-49173 to view the full article online.
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The Wall Street Journal recently published a front-page story — "Surge in Commercial Real-Estate Prices Stirs Bubble Worries" — in its Aug. 13 print edition. The article argued that rising real estate valuations coupled with low interest rates have created large demand for CRE assets. However, the current environment, particularly spurred in the last year, is reminiscent of the mid-2000s real estate boom — right before the market crashed, causing some analysts alarm.
Visit http://bankingjournal.aba.com/2015/08/is-commercial-real-estate-headed-for-another-bubble/ to view the full article online.
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How customized should the improvement be? Generally, too much customization will not appeal to the next tenant in the space. The last thing an owner wants to do is to pay for an improvement that must be removed in order to lease the space in the future. Additional office space usually falls into this category.
Visit http://www.ocregister.com/lansner/tenant-678768-owner-space.html to view the full article online.
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Events
Date: August 27 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.
Visit http://www.reca.org/events/event/webinar--an-introduction-to-argus-valuation-659631 to view the full article online.
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