Connecting the Dotz: Real Estate economist Mark Dotzour offers the big picture

BY BRANDI SMITH

When he retired from the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University in August 2015, former chief economist and director of research, Dr. Mark Dotzour, had no intention of leaving that career behind completely. He’d spent nearly two decades researching, writing and speaking about real estate.

“I just got tired and said, ‘You know what? I think I’m going to step down and just do the research and the speaking only,’” says Dotzour. “Since I did, I’ve been out on the road making about 70 presentations a year.”

Dotzour joined the Center in 1997. At the time, it was staffed with experts in land and agricultural and, but not commercial real estate. Seeing an opening, he says he decided to become an expert
in the field. And so he did.

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McAllen: Not just another border town

BY AMY SORTER

McAllen is not just any border town. Now the fifth-largest population center in Texas, the McAllen- Edinburg-Mission Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) has been quietly coming into its own with many service sector jobs in healthcare, leisure/hospitality and retail. Though not experiencing the massive growth of other Texas MSAs such as Dallas-Fort Worth or Austin, this region has been making plenty of waves on the Rio Grande border.

McAllen is home to La Plaza Mall, Simon Property’s 1.2-million-squarefoot regional shopping center that caters to shoppers on both sides of the border. “This is one of the few malls that is actually expanding,” said Rebecca Olaguibel, retail and business development director for the city of McAllen. Simon Property Group recently completed construction of a $71-million, 285,813-squarefoot
addition to the mall. Added Olaguibel: “This is only one in that group expanding its retail footprint.”

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Not-so-simple signs

BY BRANDI SMITH

For most consumers, signs are their first exposure to a brand, be it a restaurant, a store or a service. But often when commercial real estate professionals discuss retail and its trends, that first point-of-contact initially gets forgotten or looked over. That’s not the case at Plano-based American Signs.

“What happens over time in any type of advertising is that the more that someone sees a brand, the more they start to embrace the message that comes with it. Ideally, there’s some trust built into that,” says Bill Young, the company’s general manager. “So when they see that brand while they’re driving by, they recognize it and connect with it.”

Because brands, logos and consumer messages change so often, so too should a company’s signage, according to Young. He estimates the lifespan of a sign to be about 10 years before either the message is obsolete or the weather has taken its toll.

 

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Reconfiguring retail: The trends that are changing the face of the market

BY BRANDI SMITH

When it was built around 1860, the large brick building at the corner of Vickery and South Freeway in Fort Worth served as a stagecoach hotel. O.B. Macaroni took it over in the early
years of the 20th century and operated out of it until just a few years ago. The three-story building is one of the oldest still standing in Texas’ 16th-largest city.

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