What may be driving property value even more than the economy: analytic transparency.

HTS Texas president Mike Donovan (pictured snowboarding with his son) tells us his FIT Building department was created three years ago to address client demand not only for knowing energy performance, but also comparing that performance to others in the region in terms of electricity usage, natural gas, and energy consumed per SF.

Mike says owners want to educate themselves as to how they stack up to a regional consumption benchmark and they want it all on one screen. Information like this will help owners see how it drives their rents and operating costs, as margins get thinner and competition grows more intense.

Mike adds that Austin is welcoming Silicon Valley folks setting up shop, DFW is seeing big-time campus consolidations among Fortune 500 companies, and San Antonio is still waiting for that one market that will cause a commercial real estate explosion. The emergence of any market, Mike says, will be bolstered by East and West Coast corporations realizing that Texas is affordable, has no state income tax, and has attractive long-term tax abatement programs for corporations.

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