AI-powered photo and video company Topaz Labs plans to quadruple its headquarters space thanks to a $200K grant from the city of Addison. The hometown company will lease more than 28K SF in the Village on The Parkway and drop $2.5M on crafting new workspaces and labs for it. The company also plans to add 130 employees by the end of 2027. The move comes as Addison positions itself as a hub for innovation and technology, city officials said. Read more here. Best Of Bisnow Former Howard Hughes Holdings Chairman Bill Ackman is again proposing a way to take over the company in hopes of transforming it into a real estate empire. This time, his firm Pershing Square Capital Management, which owns 37% of HHH’s stock, proposed a merger worth $1B.
Austin developer Nate Paul has copped a plea that could spare him years in prison. The embattled investor and CEO of World Class Holdings agreed to a deal that would knock his charge down to one count of making a false statement to a lending institution, reducing his sentence to up to six months in jail and a $1M fine. Paul was charged with 12 federal counts of loan and wire fraud.
One of the largest data center campuses in the U.S. will be built in Grand Prairie by Provident Data Centers and American Real Estate Partners' PowerHouse Data Centers. The 768-acre hyperscale-focused campus will start out leveraging around 500 megawatts of committed power but could scale up to 1.8 gigawatts at full build-out, per Provident.
Brothers Alexander and Daniel Ron are relatively new to real estate development but quickly made old properties their bread and butter. The founders of Houston-based Scarlet Capital, the company behind the revamp of century-old warehouse-turned-office The Docks, sat down with Bisnow to share their financing hacks for adaptive reuse projects no matter the interest rates.
Giving a new meaning to farm-to-table, a planned $1.5B master-planned community featuring a working organic farm is moving forward in Anna. Tellus Group closed on land for the first phase of the project, which will include 3,000 homes, plentiful green space and the 65-acre farm. A project groundbreaking is expected later this year.
Best Of The Rest Harwood International Saves HQ With Recapitalization Deal (TRD): Saint Ann Court was set to be sold at a foreclosure auction following a $138M default, but the developer saved its headquarters by striking a last-minute deal with Life Company. The deal allows the company to recapitalize the 25-story building it developed in 2009 in Uptown Dallas' Harwood District.
Maybe It Wasn’t In The Stars For Texas CosMc’s (DBJ): McDonald’s beverage-centered concept aimed squarely at Gen Z consumers has apparently fallen flat in Texas. The fast food chain announced it will close three of its four large-format outlets in the state less than a year after opening, though several small-format sites remain open.
Sherman To Redefine The Term ‘Boom Town’ (D Magazine): With $40B in investments set to pour into the Grayson County town from silicon chip manufacturers like Texas Instruments and GlobalWafers, thousands of high-paying jobs and a population boom are sure to follow. Land prices in Sherman have skyrocketed and show no signs of returning to Earth.
An Office For More Houses (HBJ): David Weekley Homes, one of the largest homebuilders in the Houston area, bought an office building from NewQuest Properties to house its Houston division. The two-story building at 8847 W. Sam Houston Parkway is nearly 49K SF and was built in 2011. The company plans to move late this year.
Houston And Texas Overrepresented Among Best MPCs (TRD): Texas had 21 of the nation's 50 top-selling master-planned communities, according to RCLCO Real Estate Consulting. The Houston metro was home to 12 of them, including Sunterra, which took fourth place overall with 1,325 sales.
Quote Of The Week “It doesn’t really make a difference if you’re borrowing at 4% or 7.5%. If you’re stabilizing the project at 12% [yield], it’s kind of inconsequential in the grand scheme of things.” — Scarlet Capital co-founder Alexander Ron on why interest rates don’t necessarily matter in adaptive reuse projects.
Hot And In Person Grab a cuppa, network and learn about the latest trends at these upcoming events: Jan. 16: Houston 2025 Market Kickoff Feb. 5: Houston Life Sciences Conference Feb. 6: DFW 2025 Market Forecast Feb. 12: Austin Industrial Summit Feb. 13: Houston Master-Planned Communities Summit Feb. 18: DFW Master-Planned Communities Summit March 5: San Antonio State Of The Market March 6: DFW State Of The Market
Brewing In The Texas Job Market This week’s career opportunity from SelectLeaders, Bisnow’s CRE-focused job board. Construction Manager: Join ACMI Properties and play a pivotal role in building cutting-edge industrial campuses for aerospace and national security needs. Oversee large-scale, ground-up projects across major U.S. markets, managing contractors, design professionals and budgets to ensure top-quality results. This is your chance to make an impact in a rapidly growing company while advancing your career in commercial real estate development. *** How's the Tea? As we brew up next week's edition, send us your feedback, including what kind of content you'd find valuable in this newsletter. And don't forget, we love news tips. Reach our team at texastea@bisnow.com. | 
