Real estate bigwigs express strong hopes for Tarrant County

There is no doubt that a tragedy like tsunami or a cataclysm resulting from a destructive sea wave caused by an earthquake or volcanic eruption is quite enough to dismantle a nation. But, even after this, the effect doesn’t become equal on every region. While some regions witness greater ravages, there may be some which experience lesser devastations. The same has also happened in case of Tarrant County, a county located in the U.S. state of Texas, in the period of downturn. While larger economic bastions have become disrupted, Tarrant County astounding many has continued to retain its low profile yet consistently.

This has made many conclude that the Tarrant County commercial real estate sector will proceed in a slow manner because of the recession but will never cease to run. The same view was again heard from the real estate bigwigs at the 2009 Tarrant County Commercial Real Estate Forecast held on Jan. 28. It should be noted that almost all participating kingpins professed and prognosticated in the same manner as well.

One of the foremost participants happened to be George Duncan Jr., Executive Vice President of Jones Lang LaSalle Southwest Inc. He was found to be very definite when he said, “It could be stormy weather; not that we can’t get through it. It’s a cycle [and] something we deal with in our business.”

There was also the colossal and telling presence of Jim Makens of The Makens Co. He said that all is not lost and there are some lights for the county even in the middle of national announcements of retailers closing and commercial rental rates and property values falling. He accentuated how high prospects of the region are enticing investors across the country and stated categorically that a few new retailers are on the way to Tarrant County. These include 123,000-square-foot Kroger grocery store at Heritage Trace and Old Denton Road in North Fort Worth’s Alliance Texas. On the other hand 40 ALDI grocery stores intended for Tarrant County lined up to start opening in 2010.

There is a mounting expectation that these will help Tarrant County to shed its anguishes considerably.