The Ralph Bivins Project – Podcast Guest Alma Zavala

HOUSTON – (Realty News Report) – RALPH BIVINS: Welcome to the Ralph Bivins Project. We’re here with Alma Zavala from CommGate. We want to make sure everybody knows about the CommGate Development Showcase on April 18, one of the biggest events that’s happened in the Houston commercial real estate community in quite some time. Alma, tell us a little bit about the Development Showcase coming up.

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ALMA ZAVALA: This is a new event that will showcase developers in the Houston area as well as economic development organizations. We have some pretty big players already confirmed, including Midway, who developed CityCentre in Houston, and they just recently announced CityCentre Six. It’s going to be a 19-story Class A office tower, and that’s one of the recent announcements that they’ve made. We also have the Signorelli Company, the Caldwell Companies and Johnson Development all participating. We also have several economic development organizations who are confirmed such as the Greater Houston Partnership, the Woodlands Area EDP, Fort Bend County Economic Opportunity and Development, and Stafford EDC. We also have invitations out for others. It’s going to be a fun event. It’s going to be trade show style. There aren’t going to be breakout sessions or any featured speakers. All the marketing and networking will take place in an open space.

RALPH BIVINS: I’ll also be there of course. We think this one will be a lot of fun. We’re looking forward to it. CommGate is the commercial division of HAR, Houston Association of Realtors, which is one of the largest realty associations in the nation, and this commercial division has been going on for a while. When did this new brand of CommGate launch?

ALMA ZAVALA: Yes, CommGate is the commercial division of HAR. Since 2001, we’ve gone through several iterations. Right now, we’re using data fomr Moody’s Analytics. It’s not just Houston. It feeds into nationally commercial exchange, which is Moody’s Analytics’ consumer-facing site, and we share information with major cities such as LA, Atlanta, Minneapolis. We’re pretty much all over the map just by using their platform.

RALPH BIVINS: You previously mentioned Signorelli. Now, I don’t know a lot about this because I haven’t seen the site I have to admit, but they have something out in Fort Bend County. Austin Point I think is the name, and it’s 4,700 acres. Have they disclosed anything more to you about that project?

ALMA ZAVALA: Not to us, but I think this event is going to be the best opportunity to really dive into Austin Point and be able to talk to these companies about all of the transformative developments that are happening in the greater Houston area and elsewhere as well. I know that these companies are also developing in Dallas and so forth. It’s really exciting.