Austin and San Antonio can flex their multifamily muscles as they lead the state in rent growth, we learned at Bisnow's fifth annual DFW Multifamily Summit in Dallas last week. (The folks in Big D have another reason—besides SXSW—to be jealous.)

Milestone Apartments REIT COO Steve Lamberti (between IPA Texas director Drew Kile and Behringer SVP/chief investment officer for multifamily funds Bob Poynter) says there’s nothing on the horizon that should derail strong activity and San Antonio and Austin’s rent growth (from 6.5 to 7%) is above Houston’s at 5% and DFW’s at 4%. (It's not a competition, but if it was, we'd be winning by a lot because we're much better.) The growth is fueled by the strong job increases and continued business relocation and expansion.

San Antonio-based Embrey EVP of development John Kirk says Embrey is doing a lot of “gurban” deals with surface parking, interior corridors, and elevators for the multi-level deals. In San Antonio, most of Embrey's renters are all about convenience so proximity to employment and grocery stores is key. (People haven't wanted to stay this close to home since they had to ride horses everywhere.) Embrey is currently developing the Dominion Apartments at 23910 I-10W in San Antonio. The firm is also responsible for developing the Can Plant at Pearl as well as Can Plant 2 and 3 (and eight others in San Antonio, two in Austin, one in Live Oak, and one in Bee Cave.)