Can Elon Musk move the Texas market?

The best national real estate stories from The Real Deal Jul 20, 2024 [View in Browser]( | [$1 for 1 Month]( [The Real Deal Logo](   [The National Logo](   In this week’s newsletter, we look into Elon Musk’s vow to relocate his X and SpaceX headquarters to Texas over California’s politics. Plus, South Florida home builder Sergio Pino’s alleged murder-for-hire scheme, a deeper look at Brandon Miller’s real estate operation, and a backer makes a strong statement after Michael Shvo’s recent lawsuit. These and more below.   Can Elon Musk move the Texas market? Elon Musk is really putting the “X” in Texas. The multibillionaire announced Tuesday that he’s moving the headquarters of social media platform X, formerly Twitter, and spacecraft developer SpaceX from California to Texas, where he has established entrepreneurial and personal roots in recent years. The decision to leave California [appeared to have political overtones](, as his post directly called out the state’s and Gov. Gavin Newsom’s progressive politics, specifically a law Newsom signed that bans schools from requiring parental notification if a child adopts transgender pronouns. He called the law “the final straw” in a [post on X]( and vowed to [relocate the two HQs]( to the Lone Star State. Musk’s decision aligns with comments he’s made [previously about California and Newsom](, but it also coincides with his [documented interest in consolidating operations]( and creating a tech hub in Austin. If nothing else, the timing of the announcement seems convenient. Musk has been moving pieces of his business empire to Central Texas for years, accelerating the area’s meteoric population growth and housing needs. Tesla, another Musk-led company that [moved from California to Texas](, reportedly employs nearly 20,000 people in the Austin area, including at the EV maker’s Gigafactory in Pflugerville. Musk’s Neuralink recently [filed plans to sprout an office in Del Valle](, just east of Austin, where it can set up shop next to the rumored “Project Amazing,” a [100-home housing development with Lennar](, and the Boring Company, his tunneling and transit firm. Musk also pledged earlier this year to create a 100-person team of moderators in Austin for X to help enforce its content and safety rules. Whatever his motivations, one thing is for certain — X’s relocation to Austin will have a major impact on the city’s ailing office market. The [office vacancy rate hit a record 25.2 percent in July]( as developers continue to build empty office space throughout the city. East Austin specifically has the highest vacancy of any submarket at 52 percent. Big tech firms led the city’s last office boom, with companies like Meta and Google taking full buildings for growing workforces in the capital city. Enter Elon. While Musk hasn’t shared the specifics of the moves, X has [made inquiries in the Austin area over the past few months]( for “somewhere in the neighborhood of 500,000 square feet,” a source told The Real Deal. His plans for the SpaceX hub, however, are aimed about 350 miles south of Austin near Brownsville, where the rocket company’s launch site Starbase is located. Musk is a brilliant mind, and he’s built an empire based on making strategic financial decisions to reach his goals. And even though he says his decision to uproot two of his biggest company headquarters is politically driven, one has to wonder if there’s a business angle in play here. At the very least, he could get a good deal on his office space.   Together with CENSAI Any Market, All the Data [i360]( Real estate opportunities are easy to miss if you don't have the best data in hand. CENSAI offers the industry's [most precise location insights]( for creating smarter investment strategies. With individual-level data on more than 270 million U.S. adults, CENSAI delivers [detailed market trends]( from the West Coast to the Eastern Seaboard. Right down to the zip code. Find look-alikes based on your ideal market. Observe population trends up to four quarters into the future. Search our database of over 145,000 multifamily properties featuring valuable building data. With access to CENSAI, you can do all this and more. CENSAI data is refreshed quarterly so you benefit from the latest insights. [Discover our products today](.   [I'm an image]( Sergio Pino allegedly hired two crews to murder his estranged wife, law enforcement reveals Before committing suicide on Tuesday, the South Florida developer allegedly hired a second team of hitmen to murder his estranged wife after the first crew failed to do the job, officials said. [I'm an image]( Multifamily distress nearly triples in 6 months The sketch of multifamily distress drawn over the past year is now being shaded in by data. [I'm an image]( Inside Brandon Miller’s real estate operation Public records begin to paint a picture of a business in the wrong asset class at the wrong time.   Advertisement   [I'm an image]( [Brand Studio Powerful CEOs and Famous Rappers Trust MV Group to Build Their Dream Home]( [I'm an image]( Shvo backer denies role in “unlawful and dishonest” conduct alleged by Core Club A go-to investor for Michael Shvo wants to make one thing perfectly clear: It has nothing to do with whatever happened between the developer and Core Club. [I'm an image]( How landlords like Chicago’s Pangea allegedly overcharge Section 8 renters A civil lawsuit claims the Chicago Housing Authority dropped an investigation into potential fraud by one of the city’s largest landlords at the time. [I'm an image]( Worthe buys back Burbank Studios from Warner Bros. for $375M The entertainment giant will continue to lease the 27-acre campus with redevelopment on the horizon. [I'm an image]( Tides loses two more DFW apartment properties to lenders Foreclosures continue to chip away at Tides Equities’ multifamily portfolio in Dallas-Fort Worth.     [The Real Deal Logo]( [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Instagram]( [LinkedIn]( [YouTube]( [Manage Newsletters]( | [Unsubscribe]( | [Privacy Policy]( | [Subscribe]( | [Advertise]( The Real Deal 450 West 31st Street, New York, NY 10001 ©2024 TheRealDeal. All rights reserved. [View Online](