Insights
Practical, data-driven analysis of the Austin commercial real estate market — written for owners, developers, and investors. Each piece answers a real question with current, dated numbers and the way an agent with an engineering and finance background actually works the problem. No hype, no guarantees.
Austin Full-Purpose vs. Limited-Purpose vs. ETJ: What Each Jurisdiction Means for Commercial Property
The four labels on Austin's jurisdiction map — Full Purpose, LTD, 2 Mile ETJ, 5 Mile ETJ — and what each changes for zoning, the $0.579948 city tax rate, utilities, voting, and SB 2038 release eligibility, with the Texas statutes behind them.
Read the guide →Subdividing Land in Austin & Travis County: Process, Costs & Timeline
When a plat is required, the completeness-check-to-recordation sequence, the 30-day and 15-day state review clocks, sourced FY2025-26 City of Austin fees ($11,367.80 + $77.93/acre for a preliminary plan), parkland after HB 1526 — and how much a seller should do before selling to a developer.
Read the guide →Austin-Area Data Center Activity: Bastrop, Williamson & Hays County Tracker
Where the money is actually moving: ~5,500 acres in Cedar Creek (EdgeConneX, Amazon's 1,229-acre buy, Pacifico's withdrawn abatements), 30 facilities in Williamson County, Taylor's 665-acre Project Mustang, Hays County's 180-day pause — and Gov. Abbott's ERCOT audit over all of it.
Read the tracker →Data Center Site Selection Criteria: The 2026 Texas Checklist
Power first, then everything else. The criteria developers actually screen on — megawatts and interconnection timeline, acreage, fiber, water, flood, and zoning — and why ERCOT's ~410 GW queue means grid readiness now beats land readiness.
Read the checklist →Powered Land: Why ERCOT Access Decides Data Center Sites
Deliverable power, not acreage, decides where data centers get built in Texas. What "powered land" means, how SB 6 changed interconnection, why committed megawatts beat a queue position, and how to read your parcel's power position.
Read the analysis →How to Sell Your Land to a Data Center Developer in Texas
Developers buy power, not price per acre. Purchase vs. ground lease, option and diligence timelines, SB 6 site-control rules, how your dirt gets priced off committed megawatts, and the mistakes that break deals.
Read the playbook →Data Center Water, Cooling & Permitting in Texas
Water use runs from 5 million gallons a day to near zero depending on cooling — and Texas's wave of moratoriums, buffer ordinances, groundwater rules, and a 2026 state audit decides where a campus can actually be permitted.
Read the guide →Austin Office Cap Rates and Market Outlook (Q2 2026)
Office traded at a ~6.5% average cap rate over the trailing year, but owner-users — not yield buyers — are clearing most deals at $150–$235/SF. Vacancy improved to 22.7%, the construction pipeline collapsed 88%, and the submarket spread runs 12.5% to 41.9%.
Read the numbers →Tenant Representation in Austin: Retail & Office — What a Rep Does and Who Pays
Office tenants negotiate from 22.7% vacancy; retail tenants from 3.6%. Same city, opposite leverage. What a tenant rep does in each market, why the landlord customarily pays the commission, and when to start the clock.
Read the playbook →How Much Is My Land Worth to a Developer? How Buyers Actually Price It
A developer pays what their project can afford — finished value minus costs and profit — not what the CAD or an appraisal says. The five-step underwriting sequence buyers run on your tract, what pushes their number up, and how to read a contingency-loaded offer.
Read the breakdown →ETJ Release: Cost, Timeline, and What Happens After
The 45-day statutory clock, the 2–4 weeks of prep in front of it, and why the costs are professional services — not a city permission fee. Plus what actually changes after release (city platting control ends) and what doesn't (taxes, utilities, deed restrictions).
Read the process →Leasing Industrial Space in Austin: Rates, Lease Structures & Terms (2026)
Metro asking rents at $12.85–$14.43/SF NNN depending on the data set — flex $18.92, warehouse $12.74, manufacturing $11.79 — plus opex loads, 3.5–3.75% escalations, and the TI, free-rent, and teaser-rate concessions record vacancy puts on the table.
Read the numbers →Industrial Tenant Representation in Austin: What a Tenant Rep Does — and Who Pays
The tenant rep's job from requirement to signed lease, why the landlord — not the tenant — typically pays the fee, when to engage (9–18 months out), and why record vacancy makes representation most valuable right now.
Read the playbook →Austin Multifamily Cap Rates: Where Deals Are Pricing (2026)
Market cap rate ~5.7% (CoStar), stabilized deals clearing 5.5–6.5% (Northmarq), median $193,100/unit — the sourced Q1 2026 numbers, why Q1 was the strongest sales start since 2022, and what the halving delivery pipeline means for pricing.
Read the numbers →Is My Property in Austin's ETJ? How to Check — and Why It Matters
An "Austin, TX" address proves nothing, and the tax bill can't distinguish ETJ from county — the ETJ levies no city tax. The reliable ways to confirm jurisdiction, why split tracts are common, and what each answer means for platting, utilities, and value.
Read the answer →Buying Land in the Austin ETJ: What Changes After You Close
No city zoning and no city property tax — but Austin still controls platting, utilities aren't guaranteed, and HB 2512 changed who can petition out. What an ETJ land buyer actually takes on, with a pre-close diligence checklist.
Read the answer →ETJ Release: The Window Is Narrowing — Who Still Qualifies in 2026
The petition path still works — the Texas Supreme Court has backed it — but eligibility tightened once already (HB 2512's 12-acre rule), 20+ cities are suing, and the Legislature reconvenes January 2027. Why filing under today's rules beats waiting.
Read the analysis →Austin Commercial Real Estate Cap Rates by Property Type (2026)
Industrial ~7.5%, multifamily ~5.2–6.0%, retail 6.4% (strip centers 6.5–8.5%), NNN 5.5–7.0% — the mid-2026 number for every asset class, dated and sourced, and why the citywide "average" misleads.
Read the numbers →How to Get Your Land Out of a City's ETJ in Texas
SB 2038 lets you petition out of a city's ETJ in ~45 days with no city discretion — but HB 2512 (Sept 2025) added eligibility limits. Who still qualifies, and whether leaving actually helps your land.
Read the guide →How Much Is My Development Land Worth in Austin?
The clearest breakdown of how Austin development land is actually priced — per acre, by entitlement, and by highest-and-best-use — and why residual value, not raw comps, sets the number.
Read the breakdown →How to Sell Raw Land to a Developer in Austin (Step-by-Step)
The five-step process for taking raw Austin acreage to a developer sale — establishing highest-and-best-use, pricing on a residual model, packaging the vision, and reaching active buyers.
Read the steps →Austin Industrial Cap Rates & Market Outlook (Q2 2026)
Market cap rate ~7.5%, vacancy 14.1% (highest among the 50 largest U.S. industrial markets), rents flat — current, dated 2026 Q2 figures and what they mean for buyers, sellers, and owners. Refreshed quarterly.
Read the numbers →What Is a Good Cap Rate for an NNN Retail Property in Texas?
The direct answer cautious net-lease investors are searching for — current Texas NNN ranges by tenant credit and lease term, plus live Austin CoStar figures (6.4% market cap rate, 3.4% vacancy).
Read the answer →How Does a 1031 Exchange Work for Texas Commercial Property?
The 45- and 180-day deadlines, what counts as like-kind, the identification rules, and the moves that quietly blow up exchanges — a plain-English 2026 walkthrough for Texas owners trading up.
Read the guide →How to Buy an Industrial Building in Austin: A Buyer's Playbook
From defining your buy box to financing (SBA 504 from 10% down), sourcing off-market, underwriting tenancy and basis, and due diligence — the step-by-step way to acquire Austin industrial without overpaying.
Read the playbook →What Is a Good Cap Rate for Austin Retail Strip Centers?
Strip centers clear ~6.5–8.5% — wider than single-tenant NNN — because you're buying rollover, not a rent check. Current Austin vacancy by center type (strip: 6.6% vs 3.4% market) and the rollover math buyers miss.
Read the breakdown →What Multifamily Developers Look For in an Austin Land Site
Density, utilities, entitlements, floodplain, and the residual math — how an apartment developer decides what your tract is actually worth to them, and how to make it worth more.
Read the breakdown →Have a property question the articles don't cover?
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