DALLAS—RealShare Dallas began yesterday morning with its first of four panel discussions, “Institutional Capital Markets.”

Moderator Steve Pumper, executive managing director at Transwestern, led a five-member group, which explored what makes Dallas/Fort Worth such a top investment market.

“Dallas trophy-type assets are beginning to appear here and draw interest,” said Greg Kraus, managing director, Invesco.

In fact, business is so great in the local market that construction costs are going up.

“As construction prices have increased, [there's a 20 percent premium on finding a crane],” said Lange W. Allen, executive director for U.S. industrial and logistics development at USAA Real Estate Co.

Other logistical factors have conspired to make the area appealing for investors: The city is located in the Central time zone, the quality of life is high, the cost of living is low and the impact of D/FW International Airport.

For Allen, it's inverted his early-2014 business model. During the question and answer period, he admitted that at the beginning of the year, he had 80 percent build-to-suit vs. 20 percent spec projects. Now, he says it's “flip-flopped.”

As Pumper summed up: “I'm optimistic.”

Other panelists included Robert Geary, director of Bank of America Merrill Lynch Real Estate Structured Finance and Kevin Westra, regional director, Northwestern Mutual.