Trader Joe's Eying Knox-Henderson

Pegasus News reports that following a May announcement that it's moving into Dallas, Trader Joe's is eying locations in the Knox-Henderson neighborhood. According to the article, the chain will also open a store on Camp Bowie in Fort Worth. 

Dunhill Homes Expands Footprint With Two New Communities in Dallas/Fort Worth

Dunhill Homes has successfully launched 7 new subdivisions in the Dallas and Houston markets in the last five months. In an economic environment marred by disappointing news, Dunhill Homes' expansion is refreshingly optimistic. The homebuilder has been on an expansionary spree in Texas after successfully launching two master-planned communities in Las Vegas. In July 2011 Dunhill added two new communities to its portfolio – The Retreat at Craig Ranch in McKinney and Ridgeview Farms in Northwest Fort Worth.

The Retreat at Craig Ranch is located within the master-planned community Craig Ranch in McKinney, Texas. This exclusive enclave allows residents a luxurious lifestyle with access to world class amenities and low maintenance homes. Residents of The Retreat have exclusive access to their own pool and a 9,000 sq. ft., 2-story clubhouse. Residents also enjoy the benefits of living within the Craig Ranch masterplan; social membership to the famous Craig Ranch TPC Golf Club and access to the Cooper Fitness Center & Spa. The Retreat, located at the intersection of Custer and Stacy Road, offers a wide range of plans starting in the low $200s.

Dunhill Homes' second community, Ridgeview Farms, is located in Northwest Fort Worth, adjacent to the booming Alliance Corridor and minutes from four major highways. Homeowners enjoy the luxury of a private amenity center with a playground, swimming pool and cabana. Dunhill Homes is offering several one and two story floor plans that range from 1,400 to over 3,000 square feet and start in the $140s.

All Dunhill homes are designed to surpass the industry standard on energy efficiency with features such as continuous air barrier and sealing, optimal HVAC with programmable thermostat, internal moisture management, soffit and static roof venting, and air pressure balancing. Each home is then inspected by an independent consultant or organization and assigned a HERS (Home Energy Rating System) rating.

Dunhill Homes is owned by Winchester Carlisle Companies which also launched another new home brand, Nathan Carlisle Homes, in July. Nathan Carlisle focuses on building exclusively for active adult homebuyers.

Despite Recent Declines, Home Prices Expected to Stabilize Across U.S. by Early Next Year

Fiserv, Inc. recently released an analysis of home price trends in more than 380 U.S. markets based on the Fiserv Case-Shiller Indexes. The indexes are owned and generated by Fiserv, the leading global provider of financial services technology solutions, and data from the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA).

The double-dip drop in home prices that began last year continued into the first quarter of 2011, with prices falling in 302 out of 384 metro areas tracked by Fiserv Case-Shiller. The decrease, an average of 5.1 percent as compared to the first quarter of last year, was expected, as housing demand settled to a lower level following last summer's expiration of the home buyer tax credit. Price declines in the recent quarter were also driven by a jump in foreclosure sales, which were temporarily stalled by loan processing issues that surfaced at the end of 2010.

David Stiff, chief economist at Fiserv, noted that continued economic weakness and uncertainty continue to weigh on markets. "The stabilization of housing markets depends greatly on household confidence in the strength of the economic recovery," he said. "Unfortunately, recent economic news has done little to build confidence. Weak job growth numbers in May and June, political wrangling over the Federal government debt ceiling, and the ongoing debt crisis in Europe have all increased pessimism. Households will not become more optimistic about housing markets until they are convinced that the job market is improving and that politicians will not allow debt problems to become new economic catastrophes."

Despite the weakness in housing markets, which remain a problem in nearly every region, Fiserv continues to project that home prices remain on track to stabilize by the end of 2012.

Stiff pointed to several positive trends. "Mortgage delinquency rates have been falling for more than a year. Foreclosure rates have started to decline. The flood of bank-owned sales, which has swamped many markets, will finally begin to recede this year as fewer houses enter the foreclosure pipeline. Meanwhile, housing affordability has nearly returned to pre-bubble levels," said Stiff. "Relative to family income levels, the average U.S. home is now only 5 percent more expensive than it was in 2000."

According to Fiserv and Moody's Analytics, these factors, when combined with economic growth forecast for the coming quarters, point to a broad-based recovery for housing that will begin in early 2012. Between the first quarter of 2012 and the first quarter of 2013, homes are projected to increase by an average of 2.7 percent, with gains in 365 out of 384 metro areas.

Other highlights from the latest Fiserv Case-Shiller Indexes include:

• Eight of the 10 worst performing markets in the 2011 first quarter had unemployment rates higher than the national average.
• Five of the 10 best performing housing markets in the last five years are in Texas, where the Midland and Odessa Metropolitan areas have seen house prices grow 42 percent and 30.3 percent, respectively, from the 2006 first quarter to the 2011 first quarter.
• The outlook for Florida is a study in contrasts. Four of the 10 metro areas where home prices are projected to grow the most between the first quarter of 2012 and the first quarter of 2013 are in Florida (Ocala; Palm Coast; Panama City-Lynn Haven-Panama City Beach; Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville). But the state is also home to six of the 10 markets projected to suffer the biggest home price declines over the same time period (Miami-Miami Beach, Kendall; Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach-Deerfield Beach; Naples-Marco Island; Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin; Gainesville; Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford).
• Four metro areas in Washington State (Tacoma; Kennewick-Pasco-Richland; Spokane; Olympia) are in the 10 markets projected to experience the highest home price increases for the 2011 first quarter to 2012 first quarter period.
• Six of the 10 markets that have suffered the greatest price declines from peak to the first quarter of 2011 are in California (Merced; Modesto; Salinas; Stockton; Vallejo-Fairfield; Bakersfield-Delano).

Inland American Real Estate Trust, Inc. Acquires Historic Hotel in Dallas

Inland American Lodging Group, Inc. (“IALG”), a wholly owned subsidiary of Inland American Real Estate Trust, Inc. (“Inland American”), announced today that it has acquired The Fairmont Dallas for $69 million, or approximately $127,000/key. The Fairmont Dallas is a 545 guestroom hotel consisting of two towers and 70,000 square feet of meeting space. Opened in 1969 as the “first” luxury hotel in Texas, the property exudes an air of elegance and luxury, combined with a dash of Texas flair.

The Fairmont Dallas offers unparalleled accommodations that have received approximately $50 million of capital improvements since 1997, including $14.9 million ($27,300 per key) over the last four years. Inland American intends to invest in additional capital improvements that will allow the hotel to maintain and improve upon its luxury status.

Following the acquisition of The Fairmont Dallas, Inland American Real Estate Trust has whole or partial ownership interest in 16,628 hotel rooms across the U.S., including 16 full service hotels.

Fort Worth Has Region's Highest Tax Rate

The City of Grapevine sent around its July/August newsletter and on the cover was a graph showing tax rates in the region. Grapevine of course had the lowest tax rate, on the chart at least, but the highest tax rate may come as some surprise. No, it's not Southlake or Colleyville, it's Fort Worth. The publication notes that for a city its size, Grapevine is heavily reliant on sales tax and attracting businesses that provide amenities as well as bring in sales tax have been used to keep property tax rates low. 

Grapevine Area History: Supplement 1979-1989

Grapevine, TX Beer & Ale Coasters - 4pk

Fort Worth: Not Just Oil and Cattle (Shale Too)

Fort Worth leads the nation in job growth. Mayor Mike Moncrief was on the phone with Bloomberg News today and credited that cities success with public-private partnerships that have brought new jobs and new sales tax and a reduced unemployment rate. The incentives are credited for bringing the recently announced General Electric locomotive facility and 500 high-paying jobs to the region.

Mayor Moncrief also gave credit to Barnett Shale which has brought with it jobs and 1,000 wells in city alone.

Cities Boom as Boomers Fade

It wasn't driven by a Baby Boomer, but recently when the window of a Cadillac SUV came down and a voice asked me to move my Honda Fit so she could fit into a parking spot, I had to think this was the remnant of a fading world.

It's been clear for some time that Baby Boomers reaching retirement age are transforming--and will continue to transform--America's cities. Over the past decades many downtowns have been remade into more lively districts with condos for baby boomers. I remember back in graduate school when it was suggested the farthest ring of suburbs will eventually move in instead of out, to downtown, in the "donut."

And so it happened. Unable to move even farther from the city center and no longer needing more space, the movers began to populate the downtown. This is especially attractive since the aging and childless baby boomers now doing the moving don't need the big McMansions built not long ago.

A look at recent census data adds to the other side revealing that since 2000, the number of poor people in the suburbs jumped by 37.4 percent to 13.7 million. That's more than double the increase in cities, of 16.7 percent.

Bring to this discussion a recent read of mine called The Age Curve by Kenneth Gronbach, and we can get our arms around the bigger picture of how changing demographic will impact development patterns, among other things. 

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