Back in Texas, signs of the national economic slowdown are easier to spot, such as in Austin, where Dell Computer Corp. is shrinking its payroll by 3,000 to 4,000 employees, mostly in central Texas, following an announcement in February that it would cut staff by 1,700. Expansion plans at the Alliance development near Fort Worth, and elsewhere, have been put on hold. Compaq Computer Corp., Houston, plans to trim its payroll by 8,500 employees this year; and Dallas-based Comp-USA, a national computer retailer, is cutting its staff by 4 percent, or 700 jobs.
      But an economy the size of Texas's can take a few punches without going down, particularly the large metro areas, such as Houston, which have worked hard in the past decade to diversify their economies beyond one primary industry.
      "I'm pretty optimistic about some things we're seeing in Houston that are somewhat counter-cyclical to what's been going on in the U.S.," says Doug Little, senior vice president at PM Realty Group (www.pmrealtygroup.com), a real estate owner and developer with a 25 million-sq.-ft. (2.3 million-sq.-m.) portfolio in Houston. "Houston -- especially the energy-independent sector -- has been affected by the economic and other forces at work on the national level," he notes. "This includes a significant reduction in employment growth to about 1.5 percent nationally. But in the energy-dependent sector, which encompasses about 48 percent of our employment in the area, we're seeing employment growth of about 3 percent. We think that will continue to be the rate for the next year or two. It's not the boom-time level of 5 percent like we had in 1998, but it won't get you in trouble either. And growth in energy versus non-energy sectors seems to have melded together; things are flowing in a similar direction in terms of the overall economy in Houston."
      The Septon Company of America, a Japanese supplier of a thermoplastic rubber compound known as Septon, broke ground in the spring on a new manufacturing plant in the Bayport Industrial Complex near Houston. The project is valued at $44.5 million; it will create 40 new jobs. And Katoen Natie Gulf Coast has begun construction on a polymers terminal in Houston. The first phase involves a 300,000-sq.-ft. (27,800-sq.-m.) warehouse that is scheduled for completion in early 2002. The 72-acre (29-ha.) site will eventually house 1.3 million sq. ft. (120,800 sq. m.) of industrial space.
      The city's energy and computer companies continue to grow, as does their need for space. Reliant Energy, Enron and Dynegy all are expanding their footprint in Houston. And BMC Software has just completed an 800,000-sq.-ft. (74,300-sq.-m.) expansion despite a slump in the technology industry.
      The Dallas Metroplex is seeing a marked reduction in new construction, which is giving the sublease market a boost. Property owners in the area were less likely to rent space to the dot-com crowd and to high-tech start-ups, so they are not seeing large amounts of space being returned, according to 1Q01 research from Julien J. Studley Inc. (www.studley.com). But the area is not without new development.
      Verizon Wireless plans to build a Network Observation and Control Center on 25 acres (10 ha.) in Southlake. Phase one, involving a $20 million investment, will consist of 175,000 sq. ft. (16,250 sq. m.) for 400 employees with growth potential to 350,000 sq. ft. (32,500 sq. m.) and 1,000 employees. A 163-acre (66-ha.) business park is in the works northwest of DFW International Airport. The Lakeside DFW business park will include 6 million sq. ft. (557,400 sq. m.) of buildings, including commercial and hotel space. And a fifth building of 126,000 sq. ft. (11,700 sq. m.) is nearing completion at the Northfield Distribution Park in Grapevine.