In the News—Week of June 7 2021
Around the Nation
Did the COVID-19 pandemic save the co-working business model?
Between WeWork’s over-expansion and the pandemic’s effect of turning office workers against sharing any space with strangers, many thought the idea of co-working spaces was dead. Now that kind of thinking is well … just so 2020, Catalyst reports. WeWork is trying for a second time to go public, and JLL is predicting that 30% of all office space will be some kind of co-working arrangement by 2030. Why? Employees found they like working from home — at least some of the time. And even the bosses don’t want to suit up five days a week.
Energy & Environment
Utah’s leading power company hopes to avoid power shutoffs this summer
The American West is a dry and windy place, and during the summer wildfires rage across the land. That puts power companies in a tough spot. Their high transmission lines don’t hold up well in high winds. They can spark more fires. Rocky Mountain Power, the largest energy company in Utah, decided to introduce an option to shut off power two years ago if the risk is high enough. They haven’t had to use it yet. “Our expectations this year is we hope that these kinds of measures are not necessary, but we know that the best option for the company and for our customers is to be prepared,” company spokesman David Eskelsen says.
Texas
Marathon Oil heads west of downtown to mixed-use City Centre
Marathon Oil is moving into its new headquarters in City Centre and is the latest company to take advantage of the amenities of the mixed-use project, Paper City Magazine reports. Marathon will occupy about 500,000 square feet of Midway’s development west of downtown Houston. “Marathon, they did a citywide search for a location,” says Midway’s Executive Vice President of Investment & Development Larry Sloan. “And the ultimate conclusion they came to — a half a million square foot headquarters at City Centre — is they couldn’t recreate on a one-off basis the amenities that already existed here.” The magazine reports that City Centre’s office occupancy rates remain in the mid-90%, about three times as high as the rest of the energy corridor.
North Texas boom for industrial property shows no signs of slowing
The Dallas-Fort Worth area has more than 26 million square feet under construction, and developers have filed plans for another 27 million square feet, The Dallas Morning News reports. “I’ve never seen a market this active for sure,” says Al Sorrels, a senior vice president who heads the Dallas office of California-based industrial builder Majestic Realty. “We have led the country in construction quarter after quarter.”
Arizona
IHP enters joint venture to buy up remaining land for Vistancia
IHP Capital Partners and Varde Partners have formed a joint venture to acquire the remaining 3,721 acres of land for development within Vistancia. Vistancia, a 7,100-acre master-planned community in Peoria, AZRE reports. The land includes 370 acres of commercial mixed-use development in the Northpointe at Vistancia community, the final area of the development. “Vistancia is a well-thought-out master plan with top-tier amenities in a spacious natural setting. It represents an outstanding opportunity to invest in the region and leverage IHP and Varde’s experience and expertise to provide much-needed buildable land for homebuilders,” says IHP Capital Partners’ chief operating officer, Richard Whiteley.
Mexico
Increase of e-commerce leads to major industrial parks in state of Mexico
As e-commerce has grown in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the state of Mexico has seen major logistics and industrial projects going up, Mexico Business News reports. The latest is a project from BTS Development. The company is building the Campus Cuautitlán I Industrial Park, which is expected to generate 450 jobs during construction. The facility, which has more than 300,000 square feet, will employ as many as 1,500 when it becomes operational.
