CRE News For Your Afternoon 03.02.2016

See where Texas ranks in economic development game [Houston Journal]

Exclusive: Houston credit union to move HQ to Energy Corridor [Houston Journal]

Exclusive: New master-planned community to launch northeast of Houston [Houston Journal]

Amazon.com to open state’s first pickup location in Austin [Austin Journal]

See where Austin lands on new ranking of the country’s best cities [Austin Journal]

Exclusive: Champion Partners unveils $10M redo of Turtle Creek office tower (Photos) [Dallas Journal]

CRE News for your Afternoon 02.29.2016

Houston’s 108-year-old golf course falls into private hands [Houston Business Journal]

KPMG Survey Finds CRE Investors Positive but Prudent in 2016 [Commercial Property Executive]

Student housing developer matches Q4 profitability estimates; shares reach high [Austin Business Journal]

Stantec buys Bury in blockbuster Austin deal [Austin Business Journal]

Exclusive: Millions poured into nation’s largest rail-served park [Houston Business Journal]

CRE news for your Afternoon 02.26.16

Exclusive: German engineering group expands in Energy Corridor [Houston Business Journal]

ULI proposes tax incentive to spur residential development in East End [Houston Business Journal]

Shell, Marathon, BHP drop heaps of space on Houston’s sublease market [Houston Business Journal]

Cushman & Wakefield to make ‘major commitment’ to DFW with new Uptown-area office [Dallas Business Journal]

Exclusive: Developer preps downtown Dallas tract near City Hall for 42-story tower [Dallas Business Journal]

EXCLUSIVE: SA to gain new downtown high-rise tower with mixed hotel, office, retail [San Antonio Business Journal]

CRE news for your Afternoon 02.23.16

Houston developer terminates plans for luxury condo project [Houston Business Journal]

Houston startup raises millions as it expands nationally, looks to hire [Houston Business Journal]

Exclusive: German engineering group expands in Energy Corridor [Houston Business Journal]

Student housing developer matches Q4 profitability estimates; shares reach high [Austin Business Journal]

Austin home sales soften in January — but is it a trend? [Austin Business Journal]

Exclusive: Prime medical center land gobbled up for new development [San Antonio Business Journal]

CRE News for this afternoon 2-22-16

10 Notable Women in Commercial Real Estate [Llenrock Blog]

Richardson cookie company planning 50 new stores this year [Dallas Business Journal]

Construction to begin on new Allen alternative office complex [Dallas Business Journal]

Robert Shaw’s Columbus Realty teams up with McKinney to develop former courthouse site [Dallas Business Journal]

Why Facebook expanded its Fort Worth land holdings near its $1B data center   [Dallas Business Journal]

GSA’s 2017 Budget Proposes $1.5 Billion in CRE Investments

$760 Million for New FBI HQs Included in Administration’s Proposed Budget

By Mark Heschmeyer

February 17, 2016

The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) announced significant new real estate investments as part of the agency’s proposed fiscal year 2017 budget request.

While the proposed budget is subject to change, it currently includes plans for expenditures covering major repairs and alterations at federal facilities as well as new property purchases.

The GSA is an independent agency that manages real estate leasing and acquisition services for most other federal government agencies. The GSA’s Public Buildings Service is one of the largest and most diversified public real estate organizations in the world. Its portfolio consists of 376.9 million rentable square feet in 8,721 active assets across the United States, in all 50 states, six U.S. territories, and the District of Columbia.

GSA Administrator Denise Turner Roth said the proposed FY17 budget is in keeping with GSA’s mission to strengthen and develop existing federal infrastructure.

“This funding allows us to meet building requirements, benefiting the agencies within our space and American taxpayers by reinforcing our cost efficiency and commitment to sustainable property,” Roth said.

The largest project in the budget is $759 million for the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Headquarters consolidation project.

This month, the GSA issued a Phase II Request for Proposals (RFP) to the bidders competing for ownership of the FBI’s current headquarters on Pennsylvania Avenue in exchange for the construction of a new 2.1 million rentable square-foot replacement facility.

“The administration is committed to acquiring a consolidated new headquarters facility for the FBI, a member of the intelligence community,” said Bill Dowd, project executive for GSA’s Public Buildings Service.

The FBI has occupied the J. Edgar Hoover Federal building since 1974. Developers covet the redevelopment potential of the prime location encompassing 6.7 acres of land in downtown Washington, DC.

Three potential replacement sites in Greenbelt MD, Landover MD, and Springfield, VA have already been identified for the new FBI headquarters facility.

Other major commercial real estate projects included in the proposed FY 2017 budget are:

  • $267 million for a new headquarters for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the next phase of the federal government’s plan to consolidate the Department of Homeland Security on the campus of at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital at 1100 Alabama Ave. SE in Washington.
  • $248 million to undertake the last phase a two-phase construction project for the reconfiguration and expansion of the Calexico West Land Port of Entry, the third-busiest land port in California.
  • More than $92 million for two facilities in Detroit — $81.3 million to renovate 985 Michigan Ave. for a planned consolidation of federal agencies in the facility, and $10.72 million to pay for critical structural and related system upgrades of the Patrick V. McNamara Federal Building Garage at 477 Michigan Ave.
  • $40 million to replace the roof, chiller and ventilation air duct (VAD) systems and upgrade the lighting controls system in the John F. Kennedy Federal Building at 15 Sudbury St. in Boston.
  • $22.78 million for improvements to the 46-year-old Austin Finance Center at 1500 W. Parmer Lane in Austin, TX.
  • $15.52 million to complete, repair and expand the plaza system at the Carl B. Stokes U.S. Courthouse in Cleveland.
  • $12.75 million to acquire the IRS Annex Building at 2021 Woodward St. in Austin, TX. Owning the currently leased property is projected to save the government $1.16 million a year in lease payments.
  • $10.78 million to pay for structural and related system upgrades of the parking garage at the Minton-Capehart Federal Building 575 N. Pennsylvania St. in Indianapolis.

·  $8.5 million for the design of a repair and alteration project for the Joseph P. Addabbo Federal Building at One Jamaica Center Plaza in Queens, NY. The project will reconfigure space to allow the Social Security Administration to consolidate onto the lower floors and free the higher floors for additional federal tenants currently housed in leased space in and around Queens.