Austin in the Spotlight

I noticed a few interesting articles that I want to share.  Louis

TWO HISTORIC AUSTIN BUILDINGS SOLD

AUSTIN (San Francisco Business Times) – A real estate investment firm with offices in San Francisco and Boston purchased two historic downtown buildings.

DivcoWest acquired the Littlefield and Scarbrough buildings from Heitman LLC. The buildings total about 240,000 sf and are at Sixth and Congress Streets.

The 110,254-sf Littlefield Building at 106 E. Sixth St. is 86 percent leased. At 101 E. Sixth St., the 129,914-sf Scarbrough building is 93 percent leased.

Both buildings are on the National Register of Historic Places.

HELP WANTED: CONSTRUCTION JOBS UP ACROSS TEXAS

TEXAS (Dallas Morning News) – Across the state, more construction workers are getting hired, even as construction employment declined in many U.S. metro areas, according to data from the Associated General Contractors of America.

Houston was tops in Texas with 6,900 new construction jobs, a 4 percent increase. Fort Worth-Arlington added 5,100 jobs (9 percent), followed by Dallas-Plano-Irving with 4,500 new jobs (4 percent).

Brownsville had the largest percentage gain at 10 percent, or 300 jobs.

Los Angeles was the top ranked metro area for construction job gains, adding 8,600 jobs from August 2011 to August 2012. On the other hand, Atlanta’s construction sector lost 7,200 jobs during the same period.

Link to ABJ Article

Austin near top of U.S. on new economic index

Austin Business Journal

Austin ranks No. 2 out of the country’s 102 largest cities on a new economic index ranking.

That’s according to the October 2012 version of the On Numbers Economic Index released Monday. On Numbers is the research division of American City Business Journals.  The index measures the relative economic vitality of all 102U.S.metropolitan areas that have more than 500,000 residents. It is updated on the second Monday of each month.  The index is generated by an 18-part formula that assesses private-sector job growth, unemployment, earnings, housing-price appreciation, and construction and retail activity.

Oklahoma City took the top spot.Tulsa,Okla. is ranked No. 3, followed by Houston and Omaha, Neb.

Here’s the listing for the top 20 cities. Texas Cities are in Bold.

FORMULA COMPONENTS: These are the 18 components of the formula for the Index:

1.       Five-year change in private-sector employment.

2.       One-year change in private-sector employment.

3.       Long-term trend in private-sector employment.

4.       Five-year change in unemployment rates.

5.       Current unemployment rate.

6.       Long-term trend in unemployment rates.

7.       Five-year change in weekly earnings per private-sector worker.

8.       One-year change in weekly earnings per private-sector worker.

9.       Long-term trend in weekly earnings per private-sector worker.

10.   Five-year change in construction-sector employment.

11.   One-year change in construction-sector employment.

12.   Long-term trend in construction-sector employment.

13.   Five-year change in retail-sector employment.

14.   One-year change in retail-sector employment.

15.   Long-term trend in retail-sector employment.

16.   Five-year change in house values. (House values are updated quarterly. All other factors are updated monthly.)

17.   One-year change in house values.

18.   Long-term trend in house values.