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**Texas People & Companies – October 17, 2025**
**Houston Retail Market Holds Steady in Q3**
According to Partners, the Houston retail market remained stable in the third quarter of 2025, maintaining an average vacancy rate of 5.6%. The equilibrium between supply and demand helped support this steady performance. Net absorption for the quarter reached 812,168 square feet, while new project deliveries added 700,927 square feet to the region’s retail inventory.
However, leasing activity saw a dip, decreasing 9.3% quarter-over-quarter and down 22.1% compared to the same period in 2024. The construction pipeline contracted by 11.2%, leaving 2.5 million square feet under construction in Q3. Average asking rents ticked up slightly by 0.3%, reaching $20.49 per square foot.
**Cushman & Wakefield Expands in Austin**
Cushman & Wakefield has welcomed Nash Frisbie as a Director. With more than ten years of commercial real estate experience in the Austin market, Frisbie will be instrumental in expanding the firm’s industrial agency leasing team. He joins from Transwestern, where he served as Vice President.
**St. John Properties Breaks Ground in Leander**
St. John Properties has begun development on Phase I of the Leander Tech Park — a new 50-acre mixed-use business community situated 20 miles north of Austin. The initial phase includes two flex/R&D buildings and two inline retail buildings, totaling nearly 110,000 square feet.
**JLL Facilitates Sugar Land Retail Deal**
JLL Capital Markets facilitated the off-market sale and financing of Sugar Park Plaza, a 95,032-square-foot neighborhood retail center near Sugar Land, Texas. Representing the seller, JLL also brought in the buyer, Dhanani Private Equity Group, and secured a five-year acquisition loan on its behalf.
**Creation Names Matt Bodzy to Lead Mixed-Use and Retail**
Real estate development firm Creation has appointed Matt Bodzy as principal of mixed-use and retail. Based out of the company’s Dallas Design District headquarters, Bodzy will oversee all aspects of development and growth strategies for the firm’s nationwide retail and mixed-use projects. His current responsibilities include managing major Texas projects such as The Shops at MC820 in Fort Worth and the $1.3 billion Long Branch development in McKinney.
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