The mayhem stemming from the Department of Government Efficiency and General Services Administration’s race to slash the federal government’s real estate footprint is being felt in Texas.

Earlier this month, 24 Texas buildings were included in a briefly shared list of noncore federal properties earmarked for sale or lease cancellation. Before the list was taken down, it included a Treasury Department office in Austin, the historic U.S. Custom House that occupies an entire block of Downtown Houston and at least two Border Patrol regional headquarters. 

Now DOGE’s Wall of Receipts lists 657 lease terminations across the U.S., including 32 in Texas. Most of the canceled — or supposedly canceled, as the list isn't always accurate and sometimes cancelations are subsequently canceled —Texas leases are under 10K SF, and the largest is just below 23K SF. A lease for the U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement in Austin is listed as zero SF, yet it costs about $139K annually. 

Sorting out if a lease is truly canceled is difficult, and brokers and landlords told Bisnow that when they try to figure out exactly what's going on they’re met with communication black holes and bureaucratic knowledge gaps.

“It’s unclear in a lot of cases who people should even try to talk to,” a source involved in federal leasing told Bisnow on the condition of anonymity. “It’s pure chaos over there.”

While we keep an eye on DOGE’s slash-and-burn campaign locally, we’d be happy to hear from anyone who has been impacted. 

— Maddy McCarty, Billy Wadsack and Katharine Carlon

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What's The Big Deal?

A longstanding antique store in Fort Worth’s Cultural District will soon be traded in for a mixed-use project.

Fort Worth City Council approved a zoning change for the 7.4-acre site of the Montgomery Street Antique Mall and an adjacent vacant lot to be redeveloped as a 12-story hotel and mixed-use development. The development at 2501 and 2601 Montgomery St. will also include retail space and a multifamily building.

Management for the Montgomery Street Antique Mall has not announced whether the business will relocate or close. The 60K SF antique mall has been in Fort Worth's Cultural District for more than 30 years and also houses The Secret Garden restaurant.

Read more here.

Best Of Bisnow

Houston’s $2B plan to redevelop George R. Brown Convention Center and its surrounding area hit an early bump in the road after East End residents strongly objected to the partial closure of Polk Street, a main artery for traffic between the East End and Downtown. After a tense town hall meeting, Houston First is working with the city to create timelines for opening more east-west connections. 

Now Nasdaq is jumping on the Y’all Street train. The stock exchange operator is planning a regional headquarters in Dallas, joining the new Texas Stock Exchange and an outpost of the New York Stock Exchange as the planets align for the city’s financial fortunes. The new HQ will serve Texas and the entire Southeast.

Water rights for master-planned communities have become battle lines for cities and developers fighting for zoning control. With the debate over city control of extraterritorial jurisdictions to be decided by the court system, developers want independence to build as they see fit, while municipalities want influence and the ability to annex big communities.

Though less than $5M is outstanding on a 12-year-old loan for two Houston office buildings, the lender is planning to auction the buildings at a foreclosure sale, according to public documents. The owner, who has ties to a luxury LA residential developer, also faces a lawsuit from a restoration company that claims it wasn’t paid for $1.7M worth of work after Hurricane Beryl. 

Texas CRE players are making a difference from the inside out as Prison Entrepreneurship Program mentors. Commercial mortgage broker Harry Holcomb told Bisnow how the program and the mentorship of business owners like Evergreen Commercial Realty principal Lilly Golden helped him overcome his criminal record and pursue a career in the industry.  

Best Of The Rest

Texas Data Center Boom To Spike Land Prices, Cost Of Housing (Realtor.com): Insatiable demand for data centers to fuel artificial intelligence is set to significantly drive up land and housing prices in parts of the state where activity is peaking. The DFW metro suburbs of Red Oak, Grand Prairie, Lancaster and Garland are primed for spikes, but places like Abilene, where a massive Stargate project is underway, could also see huge shifts.

HelloFresh Says Goodbye To Grand Prairie Facility (DBJ): The meal-kit delivery company will close its 140K SF Grand Prairie distribution center and consolidate its Texas operations at its 375K SF facility in Irving. All 273 employees from the Grand Prairie location were told they will be given the ax in May as part of the consolidation.

$3B Frisco Mixed-Use Development Get Grocery Anchor (DMN): Whole Foods announced plans to open its first Frisco store in the 112-acre The Mix development along the Dallas North Tollway. No date has yet been announced for the retailer to open in the mixed-use development that will also bring more than 2M SF of office space to the city.

Dallas Isn’t Giving Up Yet (DMN): Despite Neiman Marcus parent company Saks Global saying two weeks ago that the decision is final to close the flagship store in Downtown Dallas at the end of this month, the city manager will sit down with store officials for a conversation. The manager will present a “financially beneficial” opportunity to the company in hopes of saving the store.  

Freshmen Reps Deal ‘Death Blow’ To Casino Development Initiative (Texas Tribune): A group of Texas House Republicans are standing firm against any attempt to expand gambling in the state, ensuring related bills can’t secure the two-thirds majority necessary to pass. This is bad news for Las Vegas Sands, which proposed a Mavericks stadium development in Irving that would include a resort and casino. The company previously said it’s likely to kill the whole proposal if the casino element won’t be possible. 

Quote Of The Week

“For lack of better terms, I was just a punk-ass kid before I got locked up. But going through the program, it put a lot of really good, positive ideas in my head and a positive peer group to be around.”

— Matador Lending’s Harry Holcomb on how a Texas prison entrepreneurship program helped him get a leg up in CRE and turn his life around after conviction and incarceration.

Brewing In The Texas Job Market

This week’s career opportunity from SelectLeaders, Bisnow’s CRE-focused job board. 

Assistant Land Development Manager — Oversee the construction of master-planned communities, managing project schedules, budgets and contractor coordination. This role with Hines involves working with consultants, reviewing construction plans, administering budgets and ensuring the timely delivery of infrastructure and utilities. Additionally, the position includes responsibilities related to HOA management, public infrastructure coordination and compliance with safety regulations.

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