CDS on Major Mixed Use Development Trends

High-Density, Mixed-Use Trend Takes Root in Houston
The Houston Chronicle

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In a city known for suburban sprawl, competing developers are testing a different concept: master-planned, high-density projects combining residential, retail, offices and hotels. While these trendy developments, where people can walk from their homes to shops, restaurants and even their workplaces, have taken root in other parts of the country, they've been slow to show up here. That's about to change. In the Houston area, at least nine of these projects are planned or under construction. Most of the sites are in the heart of town. Land is just now being cleared for some of them, while others in the suburbs are further along. The trend is driven by affluent young professionals and empty nesters tired of long commutes. Rising land costs also factor in by requiring developers to build more on smaller spaces...

The impending wave of mixed-use construction reflects the willingness of developers to take risks based on the city's current prosperity and projections that the Houston area's population will grow by 3.5 million in less than 30 years, said Kent Dussair, president of CDS Market Research, a Houston-based consulting firm.

Cities such as Dallas, Atlanta, Phoenix and Austin are already in various stages of building urban-style projects, while Houston, "with the strongest economy of the bunch," is playing catch-up, he noted.

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