The J. Beard Company’s Research team recently attended a presentation by Patrick Jankowski, SVP of Research for the Greater Houston Partnership. The bulk of the presentation reflected on Hurricane Harvey’s impact of the Houston, which devastated our community a year ago this week. Key drivers of the Houston economy were the focal point of the presentation, including such metrics as employment, gas prices, home sales, car sales, building permits, multi-family occupancy rates hotel occupancy rates. Slide after slide Mr. Jankowski walked us through trends leading up to Harvey, the immediate effect of Harvey, and finally the rebound after Harvey. There was one clear take-way from the presentation: Houston rebounded relatively quickly from an economic standpoint. Each of those economic drivers had dramatic dips in production for approximately three months before starting another upward climb. Some drivers climbed to pre-Harvey numbers faster than others, but they all prove how resilient Houston’s economy is to be knocked down for such a small time period.
What’s Going On in the World of Industrial 2Q18?
After experiencing approximately 125,000 square feet of negative absorption in the fourth quarter of 2017. The Woodlands industrial market has experienced a much more welcome trend thus far in 2018 with just over 100,000 square feet of positive absorption. Landlords have taken note of the improvement and rental rates have been rising while tenant concessions have been on the decline. As predicted earlier this year, much of the absorption can be traced to the steady rebound of the oil and gas industry. As the price of oil continues to improve we anticipate that there will be a sustained level of tenant demand in the market. With increased demand and dwindling supply, we forecast developers will look to take advantage of the improving market fundamentals. The past two and half years have been relatively quiet from a construction standpoint with approximately 170,000 square feet of new product delivered in that timeframe. While notable, it is significantly less than the approximately 400,000 square feet which was delivered between 2014 and 2015. While the fundamentals begin to signal a call for new product, it will also be imperative for developers to watch the rising interest rates and the impact they will have on […]
What’s Going On in the World of Retail 2Q18?
The largest global gathering of retail real estate professionals took place in late May and The J. Beard Real Estate Company team joined over 35,000 other professionals in the industry. While attendance levels were down from last year, overall it was a successful and optimistic week. As expected, the large block, big box & power center retailers and developers were more apprehensive than in year’s past; however, there was still a strong sense that the “Retail Apocalypse” is not coming our way. There is no denying that in the past year there has been a “shake-up” in Retail which makes it nearly impossible for the consumer not to be affected in some way by the new way we shop, but the consensus appears that Retailers and Developers are ready to mitigate the challenges head-on. In response to the “shake-up”, there was a lot of talk of “experiential” retail coming in and filling the holes where online retail has taken out some brick and mortar tenants with an overall sentiment that Technology is the largest factor in this shift. This is a bit of a familiar tale as it’s been on the horizon for quite some time, and now it’s hit the […]
Meet the Interns | Summer 2018 | J. Beard Company
Shelby My name is Shelby Beard and I am thrilled to be interning at The J. Beard Real Estate Company. This fall, I will be a freshman at Baylor University and I plan to study business. I am interested in pursuing a career in marketing, though I’m not sure exactly what I want to do with it. I thoroughly enjoyed my work here so far and I love the sense of comradery and all of the team work at The J. Beard Real Estate Company. It reminds me of all of the years that I spent cheer-leading. My other passions include art, literature, and volunteering through some local philanthropies. Nathan Hi, my name is Nathan Preston. I will be a senior at Baylor University in the fall, double majoring in Corporate finance and Risk management and Insurance. This is my second summer interning at The J. Beard Real Estate Company. I have enjoyed working with The J. Beard Real Estate team; helping brokers with mail outs and updating the client database. After I graduate from Baylor, I plan to either go into commercial insurance industry or work in wealth management as a portfolio manager. In my spare time I […]
What’s Going on in the World of Land 1Q18?
With the population growth of North Houston continuing to climb, the demand for land to develop follows suit. A ranking of the best places to live in the United States by niche.com lists three Texas communities in the Top 10 in the category of ‘Best Cities to Live in America,’ and wouldn’t you know, The Woodlands places at Number 7. Out of 228 ranked cities, The Woodlands is the second-best city to raise a family in America, according to the report. According to the Houston-Galveston Area Council (H-GAC), Montgomery County grew by 323% from 1980 to 2015 and is forecasted to reach 1,183,999 residents by 2040 (double the County’s current population). Additionally, of all counties in the U.S., Montgomery County was ranked No. 3 in counties with the fastest job growth in 2017 (5.9%), according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. To keep up with the region’s explosive growth, H-GAC has worked with TxDOT and regional partners to advance mobility projects and address some of the most heavily congested roadways. According to H-GAC, over the next few years we will see the delivery of several Greater North Houston transportation projects that will become essential to travel and economic development […]
The J. Beard Real Estate Company sponsors the Habitat for Humanity Gala 2018
Habitat for Humanity of Montgomery County had its 2018 fundraising gala on May 5, 2018 at The Woodlands Waterway Marriott. The J. Beard Real Estate Company was a proud sponsor of the event and holds this cause near and dear to our hearts. We realize everything that happens in the Habitat world happens because of their strong partnerships. A beautiful example of their powerful partnerships occurs each spring at their Annual Habitat Gala. As their signature fundraising event, they rely on the proceeds to build an entire home.
J. Beard Team attends RECon 2018 in Vegas for ICSC
John Ernst, Lindsey McKean, Zach Armstrong and Jeff Tinsley of the J. Beard Real Estate Company attended RECon this week among 37,000 industry professionals & 1,200 exhibitors at the world’s largest global gathering of retail real estate professionals held in Las Vegas, Nevada. The event boasts three days of deal making, professional development workshops, networking, ICSC’s Global Awards Ceremony and so much more. The team met up with Toby Powell, the Mayor of Conroe in Vegas, among many other Texans building relationships in the CRE Industry.
The J. Beard Real Estate Team Supports their own Heavy Hitter at the 2018 HBJ Reception
Each year, the Houston Business Journal selects the city’s top commercial real estate brokers based on their gross dollar volume of deals completed the previous year. Jeff Tinsley, retail broker of The J. Beard Real Estate Company, made the list for 2018’s HBJ’s Heavy Hitters. The J. Beard Team attended the HBJ reception in honor of those who made the cut on May 10th at the Wynden on Post Oak in Houston, Texas. From left to right: Sean Durkin, Lindsey McKean, Jeff Tinsley, Linda Crumley and Zach Armstrong of the J. Beard Real Estate Team.
Spring 2018 Newsletter
What’s Going on in the World of Office 1Q18?
In comparing the 1st Quarter of 2017 to the 1st Quarter of 2018, there has been a considerable reduction in overall available office space in The Woodlands to just below an estimated 2,000,000 square feet of direct and sublet space. While office space continues to lease up, the full service asking rates are slightly below where they were in early 2017. Competition for Tenants is fierce and what appears to be driving full service rents below where they have been in the past. While there is no new construction planned to date, this trend appears to be the norm for the foreseeable future. Class “A” and Class “B” vacant space in The Woodlands has begun to even itself out from a percentage basis. A year ago Class “A” clearly dominated the overall available space in the market. Now Class “B” has just over 42% of the vacancy in the market and Class “A” is just over 54%. Full service asking rates in The Woodlands are near an estimated $29psf/yr. and Down-town rates are not far behind at just above $28psf/yr. on average. There is no question that the execution of new leases in our market has picked up significantly this […]