In the News—Week of June 13, 2022
Deal of the Week
A Montana-based investor sold a commercial building in Montana for over $5.4 million. Amerco Real Estate, which is the real estate affiliate of U-Haul, was the buyer. This transaction was closed by Joel Montemayor, Assistant Vice President and Commercial Escrow Officer, in the Scottsdale office.
National
Areas in and near Atlanta see rent hikes as high as 83% from year ago
Apartment rates are skyrocketing in the Atlanta area, WSBTV reports. Figures from Rent.com show prices rose 83% in Atlanta’s southside. Reynoldstown saw a jump of 54%. Atlanta suburbs have seen double digit increases. “People are kind of seeing what happened on the east side and making predictions of all of these other neighborhoods and what’s going to happen there,” Brian Carberry, from Rent.com, told the TV station. “The housing market in Atlanta, and really everywhere right now, is really still significantly hot.”
Energy & Efficiency
Beazer Homes garners award for efforts in energy efficiency
For the seventh year in a row, Beazer Homes has received the Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Star Partner of the Year-Sustained Excellence Award, The Dallas Morning News reports. Beazer has built nearly 8,000 Energy Star-certified homes in Dallas. “Our goal is to deliver homes that are comfortable and durable and provide surprising savings for Beazer homeowners,” said Dallas Division President Jason Oates. “We’ve actually raised our standards above and beyond the Energy Star requirements.”
Texas
Council shoots down Chick-fil-A for larger sign on Interstate 45
Chick-fil-A was hoping that whole “everything’s bigger in Texas” concept would apply to the chain’s sign for its eatery on Interstate 45. Alas, the Houston City Council voted 14-3 to deny Chick-fil-A 42-foot tall sign, the Houston Chronicle reported. Instead, they will be held to a puny 31-foot sign like everyone else on the stretch of the freeway, as called for in the city code. The council upheld the general appeals board’s decision in February.
Texas
Goldman Sachs’ office tower will be Dallas’ largest in years
Goldman Sachs plans to move its North Texas operations to Hunt Realty’s 11-acre project near downtown, The Dallas Morning News reports. The project would include buildings as high as 80 stories. The Dallas City Council is set to vote later this month on incentives for the project. Goldman Sachs already has almost 4,000 employees in North Texas. The project would cost more than $480 million. It would be the largest office building in Dallas since the late 1980s.
Arizona
What is driving big increases in Phoenix apartment rents
The Phoenix market saw a 25.4% jump in apartment rents, driven by population growth, a shortage of single-family homes and increased wages, AZ Big Media reports. Ironically, one of the main reasons the Valley of the Sun has grown is because it is considered an affordable market. Year-over-year wages in 2021 grew a healthy 4.5%. Home prices have also jumped, but single-family homes continue to enjoy high absorption rates. Experts expected apartment rents to slow in 2021 but they rose faster. With inflation taking a bite out of workers’ real income, a market correction may be on the way.
Mexico
Mexico-Queretaro train will be completed in next administration
President López Obrador says his administration will not be able to finish some railway projects on time, including the Mexico-Queretaro Train. The project was designed by the Peña Nieto administration, which didn’t get around to building the high-speed line. The Mexico-Queretaro Train was part of the current government’s vaunted infrastructure package of 2020. Work was supposed to begin on the project last summer but hasn’t started.
