That's the outlook from Scott Freid, executive vice president incharge of Dallas-based Weitzman Group's Austin office. He tellsGlobeSt.com that the combination of job growth, availability ofcapital and interest from major retailers indicates that the Austinmarket is solid.

Still, other portions of the economy do have an impact on whathappens to retail as seen in Cencor Urban's mixed-use Triangleproject in Central Austin. Post Properties last week decided not todevelop the project's multifamily component. That could delay theplanned June groundbreaking as Cencor Urban seeks anothermultifamily partner. "Although we thought the retail was going tobe strongly in place, another aspect of the project got slowed,"Freid says.

The occupancy rate for Austin's more than 16 million sf ofretail space has been hovering around 95%. Areas that may get moreretail development are those like Interstate 35 and Parmer Lane,where an H-E-B-anchored center just opened. Wal-Mart has thenorthwest corner of the intersection under contract and shoppingcenter developer David Berndt Interests has the northeast cornerunder contract. "I'm not sure what Wal-Mart's going to do, but ifthey've got it under contract there's a good possibility of thatcoming on line," Freid says. "Dave Berndt's a bright, capabledeveloper and there's a good chance of getting that to a pointwhere they can do something this year (2002) as well," he says.