Category: News

DBJ Amazon HQ2 Article Features YP Research Director Steve Triolet

Halo or horns? The impact of Amazon’s HQ2 hunt on other major relocations

By Bill Hethcock, Dallas Business Journal

Two schools of thought prevail on the impact of Amazon’s second headquarters search on other major corporate relocations and expansions scouting Dallas-Fort Worth and the rest of the United States.

One school posits that Dallas and many of the other 19 metro areas still in the running for Amazon’s HQ2 are experiencing a “halo effect,” or an attraction from other businesses due to the hype surrounding the Seattle e-commerce juggernaut’s interest. If a city is good enough for Amazon’s consideration, this line of reasoning goes, it’s good enough for ours.

The other school counters that companies considering HQ2 finalist cities are hitting the slow-mo or pause button on their own searches until after Amazon names its final HQ2 resting place. Cities on Amazon’s list have the equivalent of devil’s horns that scare away companies worried that the 50,000-job project will soak up available IT talent, drive up salaries and cause housing costs to soar to levels their own employees couldn’t afford.

King White, CEO of Dallas-based Site Selection Group, falls in the second camp.

With the economy going strong, site selection activity has been strong across the U.S. for high-end corporate campus projects, White said. In addition to Amazon, some of the names on the list include Apple, Snapchat, JPMorgan Chase, Google, Infosys, State Farm, Liberty Mutual and more.

The quest for more labor is the top factor behind most of the largest site selection searches, White said. Most companies have gotten so big at their headquarters location that they are tapping out their existing labor markets, he said.

Apple and Amazon, for example, are both searching for new labor markets after outgrowing their headquarters labor markets. When leaving high cost labor markets like San Francisco and Seattle, these companies often can reduce their labor costs by 20 to 30 percent, White said.

“The impact of these mega-deals on your site selection decisions is critical,” White wrote in a recent blog to his company’s clients. “Most of these projects are branded employers paying premium wages, so they can be an employer of choice. Just think of the impact of Amazon landing in your city as they ramp up to 50,000 employees. Your employee attrition and labor cost for quality talent are going to skyrocket.”

A spokesman for the Dallas Regional Chamber, which coordinated the DFW market’s combined pitch for HQ2, said chamber executives haven’t noticed an increase or decrease in interest in DFW since being placed on Amazon’s list.

“The ‘halo’ the DFW Region enjoys comes from the fact that this market continues to be one of the most dynamic economies in the country and a homing beacon for companies and jobs,” the chamber’s Darren Grubb wrote in response to questions from the Dallas Business Journal. “Since 2010, more than 125 companies have relocated here, hundreds of other local businesses have grown and expanded, and more than 100,000 new jobs are created every year.”

Steve Triolet, research director for Dallas-based commercial real estate firm Younger Partners, said the company hasn’t seen evidence of a halo or horns effect in regard to relocations to North Texas.

With few exceptions, DFW is considered for almost all national corporate relocation searches because of the lack of a corporate income tax, affordable office rents, relatively affordable residential housing, lack of a personal state income tax and other factors, Triolet said.

”The biggest concern has been in regard to potential labor shortages, but this generally is only impactful on certain job roles — usually on either extreme end of the pay spectrum,” he said.

Those include low-paying jobs like call centers, or jobs where advanced scientific or Ph.Ds are required, Triolet said.

“DFW has a large enough labor pool to accommodate most industries and companies, and migration data points to DFW being able to attract whatever talent shortfalls that might emerge,” he said. “People will move for good jobs.”

Amazon sent a letter this month to Dallas and the other 19 finalists to say it’s still weighing its decision. Grubb said the chamber received the letter. He said Amazon has not provided a timetable for its decision other than to say it will announce the winner sometime in 2018.

YP Volunteers with KidSwing for Second Year

For the second consecutive year, Younger Partners leadership and team members volunteered to help with the KidSwing golf tournament to benefit Texas Scottish Rite Hospital. A Monday afternoon on the golf courses at Brookhaven Country Club for a good cause? That’s a great way to spend a Monday.

YP Deal: Sale of 123-Acre Lake Travis Waterfront Property with 80-Slip Marina

After a complicated deal process, Waterford Lago Vista LLC acquired 123 acres, which includes waterfront property and an 80-slip marina on Lake Travis, just outside of Austin. The land sale will allow the investor to also own and develop four phases of the Waterford at Lake Travis, which includes 49 ready-to-go lots for single-family home development, as well as larger vacant land tracts.

The buyer, Waterford Lago Vista LLC, was represented by Tate Chiles with NB Elite Realty. The seller was represented by Younger Partners brokers John St. Clair, Robert Grunnah and Michael Ytem.

“The buyer recognized the untapped potential of this beautiful Lake Travis community,” Chiles says. “The new ownership believes it is the right time and the right location in the path of growth of Central Texas.  Waterford Lago Vista LLC looks forward to the possibilities that lie ahead and is in the process of making plans to revitalize the subdivision and increase building activity.”

“Waterford at Lake Travis, located along the north shore in the highly desirable Hill Country, just outside of Austin, is a great location. This deal was distinctly underrated by the Austin market and required a very sophisticated approach to see the potential for investment and this buyer recognized that,” Grunnah says.

St. Clair says Waterford was extensively planned, engineered, and partially developed, but the timing 10 years ago wasn’t ideal for the project. Since that time, there is now a wealth of amenities, shopping, and restaurants located along the north side of Lake Travis.

This offering included four phases all within the Lago Vista Extra Territorial Jurisdiction (ETJ) with 49 developed lake lots with great views as well as acreage to develop more lots. The buyer of Waterford also inherits participation in the Municipal Utility District.

“The developed lots are within an established, partially sold development and are configured to meet the market demand,” St. Clair explains. “The scenic country surrounding the development and lake views from these home sites are impressive as are recreational opportunities surrounding the development including the contiguous marina.”

Lago Vista was incorporated in 1984 as a lakeside resort community with homes, condominiums, golf courses, and the marina. The community encompasses more than 15 miles of Lake Travis shoreline with a population of about 5,000 residents.

“The quality of life in this community is extraordinary whether the homeowners are retirees, looking for a second home, or those benefitting from telecommuting. Working from your gorgeous lake home makes that occasional commute to Austin enjoyable,” St. Clair says. “We are confident this will be a great investment for the new owners and we look forward to listing and selling more projects in Central Texas.”

Younger Partners’ Moody Younger & Steve Triolet Featured in Dallas Morning News Article

Businesses are paying a bigger tab for the newest D-FW office digs

By Steve Brown

North Texas businesses are paying a lot more for the newest office digs.

With the recent building boom, costs for the newest, first-class buildings are at an all-time high.

And the gap between what companies are paying for the top-of-the-market space is growing compared to older, so-called Class B buildings, a new study by real estate company Younger Partners found.

“The spread is definitely getting wider,” Younger Partners’ Steve Triolet said. “Office rental rates are at an all-time peak – well above where we were in the ’90s and the 2000s.

Historically the difference in average asking office rents between Class A and Class B buildings in D-FW runs just over $5 per square foot. Currently, the difference is more than $8 per square foot, Triolet said.

That shouldn’t come as a surprise with most of the newer buildings quoting rents in the $30s and $40s per square foot. Average asking rents for all types of buildings are more than $25 per square foot.

Tenants who don’t want to pay the extra rate for the shiniest new offices are finding more options.

“We are seeing an increase in Class B space availability because you have had a lot of new construction and that has pulled tenants to new buildings,” Triolet said.

While the rate of office rent growth is slowing in North Texas, Younger Partners’ founder Moody Younger said he’s not seeing a lot of giveaways yet to attract tenants.

“If there are some concessions creeping back in, it’s building specific,” Younger said. “But I do think that concessions are something to be aware of.

“Where we are seeing concession increases is in the tenant improvement packages which are continuing to escalate.”

Rather than give free rent, some new building owners are sweetening the deal with fancier interiors for their new tenants.

Younger Partners Research Featured in D Magazine Article

Number of Offices Marketed for Sale Up in 2018

There’s an additional 3 million square feet of office product up for grabs compared to this time in 2017, which is the highest in five years.

By Julia Bunch, D Magazine

Office properties being marketed for sale are up compared to this time last year, and roughly 10 percent higher than North Texas has seen at any point over the last five years.

“Currently, there are almost 600 office properties in Dallas-Fort Worth being marketed for sale, which total 11,063,686 square feet. This is much higher than [this time in] 2017 when 473 properties were listed for sale for a total of 8,232,695 square feet,” Younger Partners Research Director Steve Triolet says. “When you’re talking about 600 properties, there’s a 1 or 2 percent change everyday, but the main thing to consider is that there’s 3 million square feet of additional product above what was on the market last year.”

Not only is that 11 million square feet above the five-year average, but you’d have to go back to 2010 to see more than 10 million square feet being marketed for sale at any given point in time. So, why is this happening?

For one thing, Triolet says investors have a big appetite—and not just for large, well-occupied buildings in hot submarkets, such as AT&T’s Whitacre Tower, which went up for sale earlier this month. “We’re seeing appetite for buildings that have higher vacancy, and a value-add component. As the market heats up, people are willing to take more risk,” Triolet says.

Several buildings with above-average vacancy have traded in the last few quarters, such as 901 W. Walnut Hill Ln. in late 2017, International Plaza I & II (formerly occupied by JPMorgan Chase and Fannie Mae) in April 2018, Cottonwood Office Centre (formerly occupied by Liberty Mutual) sold in April 2017. Younger Partners is currently marketing 2100 Tower at 2100 Valley View Lane (pictured) in Farmers Branch for sale, which has an occupancy of 65 percent.

Plus, as Marcus & Millichap First Vice President and District Manager Tim Speck says, it’s a seller’s market. “Absorption of office space has been very good, and that has resulted in a pretty good increase in rent. We’ve seen rents go up 25 percent. If you have rents going up 25 percent in five years, and we’ve seen the price per square foot for transactions go up more than that—a little over 30 percent. So owners who have owned for a long time, they have ability to get out now and make money.”

 

It also serves to keep in mind that of all the offices being marketed for sale, many will not end up trading, Speck says. “Yes, you have more people looking at taking something to the market, but a lot of that is just people kicking the tires. I don’t think the number of transactions will be up [for example] 25 percent this year. … Because of the favorable market, many owners are hoping to get a certain number.”

A building Marcus & Millichap just closed, Danari Office Park in Richardson, is a good example. The undisclosed California owner sold to an undisclosed local investor, who plans to update the 11,000-square-foot office to increase occupancy. “As a marketplace, we for sure wouldn’t have traded close to the number we ended up selling for. The owner wasn’t thinking they would necessarily get out. Without investor activity and interest, historically that property wouldn’t have traded.” 

Marcus & Millichap, which tracks office sales greater than $1 million, has seen around 300 trades per year in the recent past. Speck expects office sales greater than $1 million to be up around the 330 or 340 in 2018.

Republic Center Leases Featured in Dallas Morning News, Bisnow & GlobeSt

The Younger Partners leasing team of Kathy Permenter, Trae Anderson, and Sarah Savage signed 30,544 square feet of leases at Republic Center, 325 N. St. Paul St in Downtown Dallas.

Three of the biggest Dallas commerical real estate publications covered the deals in different ways. Here’s the Dallas Morning News coverage , the Bisnow article, and the GlobeSt feature.

Among the leases:

  • Smith Clinesmith, LLP/Clinesmith Law Firm leased 11,213 square feet. The tenant was represented by Jayson Montoya at NAI Robert Lynn.
  • HealthMark Medical Group, LLC leased 10,034 square feet. The tenant was represented by Conor McCarthy at JLL.
  • Constellation New Energy, Inc. leased 6,502 square feet. The tenant was represented by Bret Hefton and Graham Shelby at Avison Young.
  • Addison Group (Bridgepoint Consulting) leased 1,594 square feet. The tenant was represented by Nick Gray at Kevo Commercial.
  • Phlox Capital Management leased 1,211 square feet. The tenant was represented by Oliver Day at Altschuler and Company.

“Republic Center is located in the heart of Downtown, adjacent to public transportation and the soon-to-be Pacific Plaza Park,” says Ms. Permenter. “Republic Center’s occupancy is well above the CBD average and office-users are taking notice. Later this summer, the American Institute of Architects will be moving in on the bottom two floors.”

 

 

Younger Partners, the Dallas Cowboys & The NTCAR Hall of Fame

?The very best among DFW #commercialrealestate are being honored at the #NTCAR #HallOfFame event tonight including Dallas Cowboys’ Jerry Jones & KDC Development’s Toby Groves. Our own Kathy Permenter & Robert Grunnah serve on the HoF committee.?

Here’s a variety of shots from the Hall of Fame members with inductees, the Hall of Fame committee, Younger Partners brokers and some Dallas Cowboys, too.

Sam Kartalis CRE Opinion: Active Chinese Investors in D Magazine

A recently published article regarding Chinese investments in the U.S. implied that the Chinese government’s recent regulations restricting cash outflow from the mainland may have negatively impacted investments in the DFW marketplace by Chinese investors. The article went on to list New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles as the favorite beneficiaries of Chinese-invested monies. DFW was on the list of secondary cities attracting Chinese monies.

While I cannot dispute these statistics, I feel that they may apply more to restrictions on state-owned Chinese corporations and institutions and not necessarily on high-net-worth Chinese-American individuals. Many of these entrepreneurs are living in the U.S. permanently, or maintaining homes here and in China. They spend much of their time traveling and living in both locations, and own successful business entities that benefit from the booming economics in both the U.S. and China.

Sam Kartalis of Younger Partners

Many of these investors are clients of ours, both individually and via LLCs formed in the U.S., and are extremely active in pursuing real estate investments in DFW. Indeed, most have also been active in the first-tier markets, but they’re smart enough to realize that DFW and Texas cannot be ignored because of the continued growth and the strong economy of the region.

I have been impressed by our investors’ knowledge of the U.S. commercial real estate markets and how quickly they identify and negotiate terms for the assets they purchase. We have aided our investors in pursuing the purchase and investment of equity into raw land, multifamily projects, development land, retail strips, industrial buildings, office buildings, and even condo projects.  Very frankly, we thoroughly enjoy working with them, as do our local clients.

The foreign investors we work with have expressed an interest in not only acquiring existing properties, but also in partnering with developers for new construction.  They are not afraid of bringing equity or debt to the table and have also considered providing mezzanine debt.

Our global investment group continues to serve investors from China and the local Chinese-American communities successfully with our knowledgeable staff that includes brokers Nan Li and Eliane Xu. Nan and Elaine are fluent in multiple languages and have a great understanding of Chinese culture, having grown-up attending elementary school together in China.

Chinese investors are here to stay, and they are perfect examples of how government restrictions and prohibitions do not prevent honest, intelligent and successful individuals from making money.

Sam Kartalis is broker at Dallas-based Younger Partners.

Younger Partners’ Republic Center Lease Wins 2017 DBJ Best Real Estate Deal of the Year for Neighborhood Impact

Younger Partners was awarded the Dallas Business Journal Best Real Estate Deal of 2017 for Neighborhood Impact for the AIA Dallas & Dallas Center for Architecture lease at Republic Center. YP’s Kathy Permenter, Trae Anderson and Sarah Savage represented Republic Tower. Solender/Hall’s Eliza Solender represented AIA. #DallasBRED?
  For the full list of DBJ winners, click here.

Q&A with YP’s New Research Director Steve Triolet

Commercial real estate research veteran Steve Triolet joined the Younger Partners team recently as director of research. We sat down with him to learn more about how he developed his knack for sniffing out CRE trends in DFW.

YP: How did you land in commercial real estate research?

Steve: My first job out of college was for a small research company (Parks Associates) that tracks home automation, advanced security systems and home network technologies.  Early adopters of these emerging technologies were typically high-end homes and some commercial properties.  That’s where I first started learning about research as a professional, which later led to commercial real estate research.  I cut my teeth at Costar as a commercial research analyst right after the dotcom bust in 2000.

YP: How did you wind up at Younger Partners?

Steve: Outside of following Greg Grainger wherever he goes (I worked with him at CBRE and JLL), my career has mainly been about elevating brokerage research operations.  When I started at CBRE in the early 2000s, most researchers were junior brokers in training.  They’d learn the market and business by working in research for about two years then move on.  This model works well from a brokerage perspective but is less than ideal from a research perspective (as soon you reach a certain level of expertise, you change roles and a new, typically green person replaces you).  At CBRE, I helped create a more sophisticated research department, where research professionals could be the backbone of the department (there were still interns and junior brokers in training, but also career research professionals).  I was at CBRE for about 6.5 years and then JLL recruited me away to head up their local research department.  I was at JLL for 7.5 years, when Xceligent made me an offer I couldn’t refuse.  Unfortunately, they went out of business less than a year after I came on board, but that opened the door for my opportunity here at Younger Partners.

YP: What is your role here?

Steve: I try to supplement and support all the lines of business with market knowledge and thought pieces on the state of the market.  Every one of us here is in the information business, just from a multitude of different facets (land, office, industrial, etc.). Our clients hire us primarily for our expertise in commercial real estate and our knowledge of the market (and stats to back that up) is a foundation for that.

YP:  What do you like most about crunching numbers and doing research?

Steve: I’ve been tracking and reporting on commercial real estate for over 18 years now, so I feel like I know the office and industrial market just about as well as anyone, but I still learn new things on a consistent basis.  New technologies and trends come along, that you have to keep on top of (coworking is a current example).

YP: Do you have any hobbies outside of work?

Steve: I do a fair amount of hiking when the weather allows. I’m also an animal lover; my kids have a little menagerie of lizards, turtles and toads that we caught over the past few years from our “nature walks.” I try to check out all of the various nature preserves around the Metroplex, the City of Richardson is currently expanding the Galatyn Nature Preserve which is within walking distance from home.

YP: What’s going to be the trend/story of 2018 commercial real estate in DFW? Why is that the story?

Steve: Several things point to the local market entering a transitional period. Over the past five years, things have been incredibly great, but there are a few things that point to a transition to good, but not great over the next year or so (the construction pipeline, rental rates and sale prices).  Longer term, a downward shift is needed if we want Dallas to remain a lower cost destination for companies looking to relocate and/or expand here (rates for office and industrial properties, for example, at are all time high and far beyond previous cycle peaks).

YP:  If you had to bet on a CRE industry sector to outperform the others, which one would you pick? Why?

Steve: Industrial is the canary in the coal mine.  Let me explain. Industrial is the market to watch the most, it has slightly less risk than office, retail or multifamily because the construction time for industrial properties is less than for the other property types.  A very large industrial building can be built in 9 to 12 months, while a typical office building takes about 2 years.  Because of this shorter construction time, the industrial market can more quickly adapt to a pickup or slowdown in demand.  Locally, bulk industrial properties have been the darling of investors because of our central location gives DFW a logistical advantage to serve as a south central regional hub for the middle of the United States.  Also, the tremendous growth we’ve seen from the e-commerce sector has made DFW consistently one of the five best industrial markets in the country.  This is not just about Amazon, which has been growing by about 2 million per year but also by some much more niche online retailers like Chewy.com (now a part of PetSmart), Wayfair, etc.

D CEO Names YP to the Biggest CRE Brokerage Firms in DFW 2018

Younger Partners may be a boutique commercial real estate firm, but we can still shake things up. YP made D CEO’s list of Biggest Commercial Real Estate Brokerage Firms in Dallas-Fort Worth 2018. Let us show you how we flex our muscles by providing investment, leasing, and management services to investors and tenants in the Dallas/Fort Worth region. Whether it be land, office, industrial, retail, or multifamily, we have market specialists focused on each type of commercial property.  See the full list here.

DBJ Selects YP’s Republic Center Lease to AIA & DCFA as a Finalist for Best Real Estate Deal of 2017

YP is honored to be among the DBJ Best Real Estate Deals of 2017 finalists in the neighborhood impact category for the American Institute of Architects Dallas Chapter and Dallas Center for Architecture lease at Republic Center.

YP’s Kathy Permenter, Trae Anderson and Sarah Savage represented Republic Center.  Solender/Hall’s Eliza Solender represented AIA. The long-term lease is for 13,708 square feet of office, exhibition and meeting space on the building’s first two floors, connected by an interior staircase. Located in the heart of the city center near public transportation, the space in Republic Center has high street-front visibility and pedestrian traffic, and is directly across from what will be a special new outdoor space, Pacific Plaza. #DallasBRED

Link to the announcement here.

Byron McCoy Talks Office Market

YP’s own Byron McCoy (second from right) served on the “Too Much, Too Little, or Too Late” real estate panel at the 9th Annual North Texas Realty Symposium on Friday. The event was organized by the Appraisal Institute, North Texas Chapter. Byron says the office market has seen seven consecutive years of rental rate increases in the Dallas area while vacancy hovers around 15%. The key to the hot office market: JOBS. Byron says the DFW market is adding about 90,000 jobs annually and he doesn’t see that decreasing any time soon. The office market is doing a great job of absorbing space, but there is some work to be done in backfilling space left vacant by companies moving into bigger, newer corporate campuses.

YP’s Tom Grunnah Leads Site Selection Efforts for NexMetro Communities

Shared from the Dallas Business Journal:

Phoenix-based NexMetro Communities plans to invest upwards of a half-billion dollars in the next few years on new luxury leased communities in Dallas-Fort Worth. The investment plan comes after the company closed a deal in excess of $100 million with Trez Capital, one of the largest private non-bank lenders in North America.

Trez Capital, which has an office in Dallas, will initially help back five of NexMetro’s Avilla Homes communities this year in Phoenix, Dallas and Denver. The lending relationship will be managed from the Canadian-based firm’s Dallas office.

Recently, the Trez Capital team toured the Avilla Homes neighborhoods and quickly understood the value of these apartment homes for consumers and investors, said Jason Stowe, a vice president in Trez Capital’s office along Keller Springs Road.

“We believe the concept will continue to escalate in demand and popularity,” Stowe said in a prepared statement.

In all, NexMetro Communities Chief Operating Officer Josh Hartmann expects to develop up to $1 billion in communities in North Texas, with an estimated $150 million to $200 million in annual investment in the next few years. The new relationship with Trez Capital will help fund the developer’s expansion plans.

“We are going to continue to do as many projects as we can over the next few years,” Hartmann told the Dallas Business Journal. “Beginning in 2013, we have increased our deliveries of homes 50 to 100 percent year-over-year, and next year we want to build 1,200 to 1,500 homes, with nearly half of those homes in the Dallas.”

“This financing allows us to focus on our core business, which is project execution,” he added.

NexMetro has already closed on two of its initial five projects with Trez Capital, including a land deal in Grand Prairie for a 13-acre tract. Tom Grunnah of Dallas-based Younger Partners is representing NexMetro in its expansion plans in North Texas. (Younger Partners’ Michael Ytem, Kevin Harrell and Jeremy Lillard assisted Grunnah in the Grand Prairie deal.)

Hartmann said North Texas’ constraint on new homes in the pipeline and rising rents for apartment communities has brought a rising interest in the hybrid model — a luxury community of for-rent single-family homes — that NexMetro specializes in putting together.

The firm’s east Plano community has gained traction with homebodies wanting a front porch without the long-term commitment of a mortgage, Hartmann said.

And NexMetro’s soon-to-open community in McKinney already has a long list of more than 250 would-be residents hoping to get into the for-lease community. The community is slated to open in early March.

We chatted with Hartmann about the company’s growth its plans in Dallas-Fort Worth.

Why have you chosen to expand so rapidly in North Texas?

We like North Texas. We like the home values, which have increased almost 11 percent. That’s a pretty good sign that residents may be interested in some alternative in the Dallas market and we can achieve absorption. There hasn’t been much multifamily development outside the urban neighborhoods, and we believe we are in the right place to be able to grow. We like the idea of everything in Dallas.

What does your typical resident want in a community?

The North Texas resident likes to consume a lot. They want a lifestyle where they can eat out and have easy access to entertainment. They want a somewhat suburban feel without paying the rent in a downtown community. We see them wanting to be in more upscale suburban markets in a community with its amenities on steroids (and) with access to a yard. In Plano, we built beautiful front porches and the residents like the idea of having their own private space.

Have you tried to incorporate your product in a master-planned community yet?

We have had some discussions with some master-planned developers, but we haven’t done any deals yet. They are open to the option. We have done that in Phoenix and are looking at other markets, but the product has to fit in a mature master-planned community, like Craig Ranch. The early-stage, master-planned communities don’t have the restaurants and other services our consumers want.

What does that do to your cost of land?

We are generally paying more than the single-family builders, but the economics are just different.

Have you experienced any push-back from municipalities on this type of residential development? It seems renting has a negative connotation to it by some city leaders.

It’s all about having the right mix of residential options. It’s about going through the educational process to explain who we are and what we do. Initially, we do see a knee-jerk reaction, but we explain this is a different product with less turnover that is more of a lifestyle decision by our residents. This isn’t a garden-style apartment building, but a transitional product for space where traditional commercial real estate doesn’t work and is friendly to other single-family communities.

What are your typical rents in Dallas-Fort Worth?

We are at about $1.80 per square foot in Plano, which is a premium to the rental rate in Phoenix of $1.45 per square foot. Plano’s rate will be similar to the McKinney community when it opens.

What kind of properties are you looking to buy?

Our biggest challenge in Dallas is that it is such a successful economic market that land sellers are becoming increasingly picky, and it takes time to get the zoning done. We like 10- to 15-acre remnant sites. We have been successful, but we look at a lot of sites.

How much money to you plan to invest in North Texas in the near future?

Our year-over-year annual investment is in the realm of $150 million to $200 million, depending on the size of the projects. We plan on doing this for the next few years with five to six new projects a year.

Younger Partners Reps NexMetro Communities in its 13-Acre Site Acquisition in Grand Prairie

Phoenix-based NexMetro Communities, the pioneer of next-generation, leased-home neighborhoods, has acquired a 13-acre parcel located on the corner of Sara Jane Parkway and Forum Drive in Grand Prairie. The acquisition represents the third Avilla luxury leased home neighborhood in the Dallas area and the 15th neighborhood acquired by the innovative leased homebuilder in the Sunbelt. “Dallas Metro continues to experience significant growth, and the unique leased home experience Avilla communities offer is an appealing option for many people looking for a great place to live,” said Josh Hartmann, president and COO of Arizona-based NexMetro Communities, which has more than 2,500 homes either completed, under construction or under contract in the Dallas, Phoenix and Denver metros. “Avilla Heritage will offer an outstanding housing option for these lifestyle renters in the heart of a rich live-work-play area in Dallas County.”

Located near State Highway 161 and Interstate 20, Avilla Heritage in Grand Prairie geographically complements NexMetro’s two other communities: Avilla Premier in Plano, which opened in early 2017, and Avilla Northside in McKinney, which is slated to open early this year. Site construction will begin at Avilla Heritage this month, with a community open slated for 2019 on 140 one-, two-, and three-bedroom leased homes. A well-established distribution center, Grand Prairie is a rapidly growing city known for its hometown charm, family-friendly environment and as a smart place to do business.  The site is close to the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, major freeways, and boasts nearby large employers such as Lockheed Martin, Poly-America and other aircraft and manufacturing companies. Nearby recreational facilities include the 8,500-acre Joe Pool Lake and more than 4,900 acres of parks that are attracting high-end residential and resort development.

“This location is ideal for the next Avilla luxury leased home community in the Dallas metro area,” said Younger Partners broker Tom Grunnah, who represented NexMetro in the land acquisition.  “This 13-acre parcel is in a vibrant corridor that has a multitude of new development, including the new Ikea store, as well as ‘The Epic,’ the City’s incredible new recreation center of the future.” Grunnah represented NexMetro along with colleagues Michael Ytem, Jeremy Lillard, and Kevin Harrell in the transaction.Avilla Heritage will deliver smart design, energy efficiency and distinctive architecture as driving forces. With one-, two- and three-bedroom floor plans, the homes are modern and stylish, with open and spacious floor plans, private entrances, front porches and backyards. All of the floor plans boast 10’ ceilings, allowing an abundance of natural light, and feature high-end finishes including granite countertops, stainless steel appliances, full-size washer and dryers and even a charging station for electric vehicles. Additionally, Avilla Homes are pet-friendly and offer reserved covered parking and optional garages, plus the perks of neighborhood living, complete with a resort-style pool and beautifully landscaped recreation areas, all maintained by a professional management company, without mortgage payments or HOA fees. Priced competitively with surrounding Class-A apartments, the rental rates for these luxury leased-homes will be released soon to the public. Floor plans and additional details are available by visiting the Avilla Homes at avillahomes.com

About Avilla Homes 

A truly unique alternative to the typical rental experience, Avilla Homes neighborhoods feature single level, detached homes for lease in a gated enclave. The one, two and three-bedroom floor plans feature private entrances, outdoor patios and backyards, along with high-end finishes such as 10’ ceilings, granite/quartz countertops, stainless steel appliances and more. The pet friendly communities offer the perks of neighborhood living with optional garages, resort-style pool, beautifully landscaped recreation areas, and even an electric car charging station – all maintained by a professional management company, without mortgage payments or HOA fees. To learn more about Avilla Homes visit www.avillahomes.com.

About NexMetro Communities

NexMetro Communities is an innovative development company focused on building luxury leased home neighborhoods that serve lifestyle conscious consumers seeking a new home experience without the burdens of a mortgage. In partnership with its affiliated companies, NexMetro has developed Avilla Homes neighborhoods since 2010 in key Sunbelt locations. Combining elements of residential single-family living with rental terms and management, NexMetro provides a growing market niche of consumers a leased home experience like no other. For more information on NexMetro, visit www.nexmetro.com.

About Younger Partners

Younger Partners is a full-service boutique commercial real estate firm providing investment, leasing, and management services to investors and tenants in the Dallas/Fort Worth region. We also specialize in the acquisition and disposition of land, multifamily, office, industrial, and retail properties.

YP Staffers Run for a Cause in BMW Dallas Marathon

Congrats to YP’s Michael Ytem, Tanja Ivandic and Autumn Stallings for their participation in the BMW Dallas Marathon. Michael ran a relay & is prepping to meet his goal of running a half-marathon. Tanja ran a 3-minute PR for a half-marathon with a 6:24 pace for 13.1 miles for a time of 1:23:44. Autumn ran a 12-minute personal record in the full marathon.

The Dallas Marathon is a nonprofit organization with a focus on promoting health and physical fitness through running events and related activities. Established in 1971, the history of the organization encompasses tremendous growth and produces what has become Dallas’ largest and Texas’ oldest marathon, the BMW Dallas Marathon as well as Half Marathon & SMU Cox School of Business Relay. Since naming a primary beneficiary in 1997, the Dallas Marathon has donated more than $3.9 million to Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children.