What you will learn:
- The summit's discussions highlighted the importance of vertical integration, material innovations such as mass timber construction—and technology adoption, including AI-driven analytics, to drive project success and resilience.
- Developers should prioritize tenant experience and location branding, leveraging hospitality-inspired amenities and mixed-use concepts to attract and retain tenants in a competitive, hybrid-work environment.
- With rising construction costs, labor constraints, and shifting market forces, now is the time for industry leaders to collaborate, adapt, and invest in solutions that address affordability and sustainability.
On Thursday, October 9, 2025, Foley & Lardner LLP, CBRE, The Beck Group, and Granite Properties hosted the second annual North Texas Real Estate Summit at Foley & Lardner LLP's office in Dallas, Texas.
The event brought together prominent voices from the institutional investment, mixed-use, multifamily, and office development sectors. Attendees included capital providers, developers, architects, and other industry leaders seeking strategies for success amid rising construction costs, evolving tenant needs, and new market forces.
Tyler Johnson, a partner in the Real Estate Practice Group of Foley & Lardner LLP in the firm's Dallas office, opened the event with a few remarks, followed by a panel of market leaders for a discussion focused on capital markets, development feasibility, operational efficiency, innovation, technology utilization and market risks. The panel consisted of Joel Behrens, managing director at Trammell Crow, Greg Coutant, president of development at StreetLights Residential, and Cody Armbrister, senior managing director at Crow Holdings Development, moderated by Paul Bennett, senior managing director at Granite Properties.
Capital Markets and Development Feasibility
The panel discussion opened with an analysis of current financing conditions, the role of institutional versus private equity, and Texas' continued competitive advantage in building costs compared to coastal markets. Panelists noted that deal sizes, replacement-cost considerations, and selective equity deployment are reshaping the pipeline of projects they are currently seeing in the market. A consistent theme from the panelists is that Dallas-Fort Worth remains an attractive market to capital partners due to the continued rise of large-scale corporate migration and influx of population.
Operational Efficiency
The panelists also focused on how they continue to refine internal operational optimization. Greg Coutant described StreetLights' efforts to shift to a fully vertically integrated model for certain projects. This model has allowed the developer to reduce costs, improve quality, mitigate supply chain delays, and obtain greater control over the details of their projects by bringing architecture, structural engineering, design and procurement in-house.
Material Innovation
Cody Armbrister spotlighted Crow Holdings' new development in Frisco, Texas, Southstone Yards. This project was unique to the developer's portfolio as the development was built using cross-laminated mass timber, which presents both aesthetic and operational differences from conventional steel or concrete developments. While mass-timber can be more expensive depending on the current market forces, it helped this developer cut delivery timelines by up to 25 percent. Mass timber also presents some advantages in domestic sourcing, manufacturing relationships, and even with respect to ESG benefits, which helps attract a tenant-mix with environmentally driven goals.
Tenant Experience
The conversation reinforced that location and tenant experience remain critical. In the office sector, a hospitality-inspired approach, whether that be premium lobby design, wellness amenities or even pickleball courts, is helping developers attract tenants in the hybrid-work era. Mixed-use and transit-oriented projects are also gaining traction, particularly where they integrate lifestyle, entertainment, and retail components.
Technology Utilization
Developers are beginning to incorporate AI tools for tasks like lease and concession data scrapes and competitive market analysis. The immediate implementation of such tools is slowly gaining traction, as the panelists noted that data security concerns present hurdles for complete integration. That said, early use cases are improving operating efficiency and decision-making accuracy.
Market Risks and Outlook
The panelists concluded their discussion with a focus on the key challenges ahead. Specifically, higher interest rates affecting valuations, labor market constraints, construction cost inflation, and affordability pressures in formerly cost-competitive North Texas markets are challenges that developers in the North Texas market will need to tackle over the coming years.
Spotlight on SMU Athletics and Strategic Positioning
Following the panel discussion, the event concluded with a discussion between Southern Methodist University (SMU) athletic director, Damon Evans, and SMU executive deputy athletic director, Brian Ullmann, which discussion focused on SMU's competitive positioning in the ever-changing landscape of college athletics.
Their conversation illustrated how principles similar to real estate strategy apply to higher education and sports:
- Long-term planning and conference realignment secured SMU's move to the ACC.
- Willingness to adapt to economic structure changes, including revenue sharing and NIL programs, has allowed SMU to remain competitive in talent acquisition.
- Cultivating brand visibility in the Dallas market parallels the real estate sector's focus on location branding and amenities, including the importance of community engagement, upgraded fan experiences and strategic partnerships within the Dallas business community.
Evans closed by highlighting how both athletics and academics reinforce SMU's visibility and competitiveness, focusing on the empowerment of student athletes through academic, professional and life-skills support.
As the Dallas real estate market navigates a period of transformation, developers and industry leaders are encouraged to lean into innovation, collaboration, and adaptability. With tenant expectations evolving and market forces reshaping project feasibility, now is the time to reimagine the tenant experience, invest in sustainable solutions, and forge strategic partnerships that strengthen community ties. By proactively addressing affordability, labor constraints, and rising costs, developers can position themselves, and the Dallas market, for long-term success.