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Despite Uncertainties, North Texas Remains At The Forefront Of Continued Growth

Texas or Bust: Most One-Away Trailers Headed to Texas

U.S.: If you passed a U-Haul trailer somewhere in the Lone Star State last year, chances were high that they were heading to their new home here. Government figures show that about 500,000 new residents came to Texas in 2022. U-Haul reports that Texas was the desired destination for those using U-Haul moving equipment last year. It was the second year in a row that Texas was the top destination for U-Haul customers, beating out those going to Florida or North or South Carolina. And those moving to the south were leaving California, New York and Illinois. And you may recall that for the third quarter in 2022, Redfin ranked North Texas No. 9 on its list of areas searched by potential homebuyers from elsewhere.

DFW: A new year has ushered in some of the same news from late last year for North Texas. Slower existing home sales, lower prices, and fewer new home starts, all due to economic uncertainty, higher costs for land and materials and rising mortgage interest rates. Despite those uncertainties, North Texas remains at the forefront of continued growth because of migration into the area and continued job gains. North Texas led the country in commercial property transactions through the first three quarters of 2022 at $30 billion. The area also was second only to Gotham in starts of construction with more than $8 billion at mid-year last year. And DFW remains the top warehouse and industrial market with nearly 90 million square feet of projects in development.

DFW: When it comes to construction jobs, North Texas is near the top of the pack. The Associated General Contractors of America says in a new national survey that North Texas added 18,000 construction sector jobs from November 2021 to November 2022. Most of those new DFW jobs were in the Dallas area. Still, the North Texas gain was only second to Houston, which added 18,500 construction jobs. Other significant construction job gains were in Seattle and Phoenix. Texas, meanwhile, also led the country in total employment gains, and North Texas’ overall job gains rose by more than 200,000 in 2022.

DFW: The Galleria Dallas has a new owner—its lender. An affiliate of MetLife Insurance took control of the shopping mall and the adjacent Westin Galleria Hotel just before the end of the year. A partnership led by UBS Realty Investors had owned the iconic three-level mall at LBJ Freeway near the North Dallas Tollway since 2002 and it acquired the hotel in 2005. UBS had paid about $300 million for the Galleria and another $95 million for the 432-room hotel property. MetLife had more than $300 million in loans on the Galleria. The shopping mall was one of the country’s most successful centers of its kind across the country, with its variety of anchor upscale retail stores, specialty shops and restaurants, many of them encircling an ice-skating rink in the middle of the mall. The mall has lost tenants over the years and the shopping center and the hotel are now valued at closer to $200 million.

DFW: ExxonMobil has just made a big sale. The company has sold its nearly 300-acre property in Las Colinas as it prepares to move its corporate headquarters to Houston. Capital Commercial Investments of Austin, with $110 million in financing, acquired the property that includes 365,000 square feet of office space and more than 200 acres of adjacent land on State Highway 114 in Irving. The company will move 200 corporate employees to a new corporate center in Houston later this year. ExxonMobil has been in Las Colinas since 1996 after a move from New York City. The new owner of the property is not new to North Texas. Last year, Capital Commercial Investments bought the nearly 2 million-square-foot campus that had served as the corporate headquarters for retailer JCPenney, and in 2020 it acquired the 1-million-plus-square-foot former headquarters of American Airlines located near DFW International Airport.

LA LA LAND: Put ’em up! Rocky is ready for another round. Well, not exactly, but Sylvester Stallone has listed a home he bought less than a year ago and he wants a knockout price for it. Here’s the story. Stallone and his wife Jennifer sold their longtime compounded in Beverly Hills early last year to Adele for $58 million. They then paid $18 million for a four-bedroom, 10,000-square-foot home that sits on 2 acres in a gated estate in nearby Hidden Hills. Stallone/Rocky/Rambo has now listed it for $22.5 million. The house was built in 2014 and includes a guest house and a four-stall barn with all the amenities fit for equestrians. The home also includes a two-story entry, a great room with cathedral ceilings, a chef’s kitchen and upscale appliances. There’s also a home theater, gym, pool, cabana and covered patio. The couple reportedly spends most of their time in Florida.

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