DALLAS—Austin is the top city, followed by Dallas at number two, according to Emerging Trends in Real Estate 2017 by PwC US and the Urban Land Institute. If there was any doubt that Dallas is trending at the moment, look no further than the Toyota mega-facility in Plano.

Toyota Motor North America CEO Jim Lentz recently provided a glimpse into construction progress, the organization's hiring needs, and a description of the tech-driven and environmentally sustainable campus, along with a few factoids, GlobeSt.com learns.

More than 1,200 tons of Texas limestone, 12 acres of glass (this equates to almost 50,000 2017 Tacoma truck windshields) and 17,000 tons of reinforcing steel are being used to construct the facility.

More than 2,000 daily workers have poured concrete equivalent to the length of 477 AT&T Stadiums.

The drought-tolerant landscaping will use no fertilizers, no chemicals and no artificial irrigation.

On-site solar panels will produce 7.75-megawatts of electricity with the rest generated by Texas wind farms.

“Our new state-of-the-art North American headquarters is designed to stimulate ever better ways to serve our team members, customers and community,” said Lentz. “As we get closer to completion (in mid-2017), we look to recruit people who want to challenge what's possible at Toyota and within the auto industry. We will be hiring more than 1,000 new team members across numerous functions, and our hope is that they will help us in Toyota's mission to address mobility challenges for everyone, now and in the future.”

With regard to the specifics of the ULI-PwC study, the research pointed to niche neighborhoods and economic diversity as driving forces behind the strong showing of this year's top 10 US cities, which is certainly true in Dallas' case.

“This year's report shows that there are opportunities stemming from a shift in how, where and when people work,” says ULI Global chief executive officer Patrick L. Phillips. “One of the trends leading to new opportunities is multi-purposing of commercial space. We're seeing different types of tenants using the same space for different uses at different times of the day, particularly in tight markets. Buildings with open, flexible space have a competitive advantage.”

Construction labor shortages are driving up construction costs and stretching out project timelines, directly impacting availability of affordable real estate across all residential sectors.

“Optionality” is a new way landlords can protect revenue potential by allowing multiple uses of the same space at different times and permitting tenants to use only the space they need when they need it. For example, an office by day and a party/event venue by night.

Instant Insights /

Dallas Continues To Shine with Toyota and More Mega-Building

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