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Competition Still Exists For Homes

DFW Seeing More High-Rise Residential Conversions

DFW: Another well-recognized Dallas building is going residential. The former Ambassador Hotel, located in the Cedars neighborhood south of downtown Dallas on South Ervay Street, will soon be converted into apartment spaces. It was vacant at the time of a fire three years ago. The building’s new owner, OHT Partners of Austin, has submitted plans for 299 units located in three adjoining buildings that range from five to seven stories. The project would begin in the fall and would be ready in two years. The price tag for the 320,000-square-foot development is around $60 million. The Ambassador Hotel originally opened at the turn of the last century as the Majestic Hotel and enjoyed prominent status because of hosting world leaders during its heyday. OHT Partners is not a stranger to rental communities as it has projects in the Metroplex, Houston, Austin and San Antonio. It also has plans for another rental development in the Design District, west of downtown Dallas.

DFW: A Dallas developer has big plans for a downtown project—but in Fort Worth. Bluelofts Inc., in partnership with Wolfe Investments of Plano, has acquired the adjoining Oil & Gas Building, a 16-story structure that was built in 1954, and a 19-story, nearly 100-year-old building that housed the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. The two structures have a combined 440,000 square feet of space. The developer wants to transition from office space to 268 residential units between the two structures. Part of the former newspaper building will continue to house office tenants. That building originally was constructed for a downtown retail store and then housed a bank. About 30 years ago, its lobby was combined with the Oil & Gas Building. The Star-Telegram moved to the building in 2011 after its original building at 7th and Taylor was sold. It is moving again. The downtown Fort Worth conversion is the latest office to residential or hotel space transition in North Texas, including numerous high-profile buildings in downtown Dallas.

U.S.: North Texas has fared better than most Texas metro areas in the median price of homes post-pandemic. And it certainly has fared much better than many other cities in other parts of the country. Industry analysts and numerous real estate agents report that despite drops in home prices in parts of the Metroplex, competition still exists for homes appropriately priced in desired area neighborhoods and communities. Much of the continued stability stems from a diversified economy in North Texas and continued migration from other parts of the country, among other factors. And now comes a report from Florida Atlantic University that has ranked the Top 10 most-overpriced home markets in the country. Five of those markets were in Florida. Florida Atlantic, for example, says that the average listing price of a home in Nashville, Tennessee, was $420,932, but the expected home value is more like $296,827, a 41.81% difference between home value and list price. Nashville ranked No. 10 on the list, which also included Tampa; Deltona, Florida; Detroit; Palm Bay, Florida; Lakeland, Florida; Memphis; Charlotte, North Carolina; Cape Coral, Florida; and Atlanta, at No. 1, with a 51.16% difference between home value and list price.

DFW: The Dallas Hilton Anatole is getting a multimillion-dollar facelift as tens of thousands of new hotel rooms in the area are being readied for opening. The iconic hotel on Stemmons Freeway has plans for $30 million in renovations to its guestrooms. The hotel, which was developed by Trammell Crow and opened in 1979, is one of the largest in the area with 1,600 rooms and the total property encompasses 45 acres. It last got a makeover—a $125 million one—in 2010. That the hotel is undergoing a renovation comes as no surprise as it prepares for competition. Lodging Econometrics reports that more than 250 new hotel developments were reported in the first quarter in DFW, which could mean more than 30,000 new hotel rooms in North Texas. Among them was the Omni PGA Resort in Frisco, part of a huge multimillion-dollar golf course and mixed-used project.

NEW YORK: It may not be listed as an Airbnb, but Sarah Jessica Parker is hoping to cash in on the rental of her Hamptons beach house this summer. The price tag: $95,000, but hey it’s from Memorial Day to Labor Day. It’s quite the price for a 1,200-square- foot, three-bedroom, one-bath beach cottage in Amagansett, New York. The home’s bedrooms are small, but it has a great cozy kitchen and a large deck that overlooks a private yard that heads to the beach. And that’s the biggest draw: the private path to the beach nearby. There also is an outdoor shower to clean up from the fun days on the beach. If $95,000 and a three-month rental seem too much, it appears that the former “Sex and the City” star is ready to negotiate for shorter periods of time—just don’t expect her to throw in some shoes to close the deal.

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