Rental Woes

Want to rent a nice apartment in Dallas? Then you need to make this much money.

It might be normal to complain about the high cost of renting an apartment in Dallas-Fort Worth, but it seems that nationally we're not alone. According to a Zillow analysis done in April, it's darn near impossible to rent a median-priced apartment in most of the 35 largest U.S. metro areas on an income of $15 an hour.

Here's the catch, though: The study uses $15 as the "minimum wage" — inspired by Seattle's decision — when that's not an accurate number in most cities. (In Dallas, minimum wage is still $7.25.) In order for two people to afford median rent here, which is $1,465 according to the April 2015 Zillow Rent Index, they must each make $14.65 an hour.

If you don't want a roommate (or several), you have to make at least $29.30 an hour. This is assuming 40 hours worked a week, for 50 weeks in a year. In terms of annual salary, the magic number in Dallas is $58,600.

The other thing Zillow points out is that these numbers take into account the fiscally responsible advice of not spending more than 30 percent of your monthly income on housing. Of course it is always an option to splash out on an apartment and be frugal in other areas. (Can you really give up dinners out, though?)

Or you could move to Detroit (where an $11.21 hourly wage is needed for two earners to afford median rent), Pittsburgh ($11.24), St. Louis ($11.37), Cleveland ($11.61) or Indianapolis ($11.99).

Unless you plan on raking it in, steer clear of San Jose ($32.87), San Francisco ($31.62), Los Angeles ($24.98), New York ($23.72) and San Diego ($23.30).

Loyal to the Lone Star State? It'll cost you $15.13 an hour for two to rent in Houston, and $16.86 for a pair in Austin. Suddenly Dallas doesn't seem so expensive.

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Anna Land Buy

Cox Family sells 116 acres in Anna for mixed-use development

Courtesy photo

Anna, Texas

A major land sale in Anna is paving the way for new mixed-use development. According to a release, Frisco-based Rockhill Capital & Investments struck a deal with the Cox Family to acquire 116 acres at County Road 371 and SH-5, approximately two miles east of US-75.

Younger Partners Executive Managing Director John St. Clair, Vice President Tyler Hemenway, and Associate Davis Willoughby represented the seller in the transaction. The sales price was not disclosed.

Rockhill will sell fully entitled tracts of land to homebuilders, multifamily, and commercial developers.

The single-family portion will be built in phases with development of 325 single-family lots, says Rockhill Chief Development Officer Brent Libby in a statement.

“Construction will likely begin early in Q2 2025,” Libby said. “We’ve already sold 82 of the 116 acres to homebuilder Taylor Morrison and they should break ground first.”

The remaining acres are already being snapped up including 9.5 acres on SH 5 that is under contract to a commercial developer, and interest from a user/developer on the remaining 24 acres, which is zoned for multifamily.

The Cox Family owned the land for decades and had received multiple offers on the property over the years, but were never ready to sell.

“Ultimately, the family wanted to capitalize on the land market before unforeseen market factors took place,” said St. Clair of Younger Partners. “This deal took place at the right time with the right buyer.”

The acquisition nvolved a lengthy zoning process to acquire the land. Rockhill created a Public Improvement District (PID) on the single-family portion of the land, which helped the deal move forward.

Rockhill already has land holdings in nearby high-growth cities of Howe, Van Alstyne, and Sherman, and it ain't stopping here.

“We’ll continue to source and acquire land in the area where we can add value through entitlements, and either develop the property or hold it for some time and exit to another developer or end user,” Libby says.

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