Glossary
Commercial real estate, development, and fund terms in plain English — no jargon left unexplained.
A tax-deferral tool that lets an investor reinvest the proceeds of a sold investment property into like-kind replacement property without immediately recognizing capital-gains tax.
The Travis County mechanism that lets development proceed in golden-cheeked warbler habitat — subject to a seasonal clearing prohibition.
A licensed broker's market-based estimate of a property's likely value — quicker and less formal than an appraisal.
Development undertaken for a specific, committed tenant or owner, delivering a building finished to their exact specification.
A property's net operating income divided by its value — a quick measure of unlevered yield.
The state-granted exclusive right for a specific utility to provide retail water or sewer service in a defined geographic area.
An interior space with no supporting columns between the exterior walls, giving fully open, unobstructed floor area.
The TCEQ approval required for regulated development on the Edwards Aquifer Contributing Zone — the counterpart to a WPAP.
A protected corridor along a waterway, measured outward from the centerline, in which development is heavily restricted.
Building real estate around demand that has already been identified or created, rather than on speculation.
The government approvals — zoning, platting, variances, and permits — that grant the legal right to develop a property a particular way.
An analysis, done before capital is committed, of whether and how a site can profitably be developed.
In Austin, a tree 24 inches or more in diameter of a listed species, whose removal is prohibited except under narrow circumstances.
The legally permitted, physically possible, and financially optimal use that gives a property its greatest value.
A community where residents own their homes and lease the improved land (pad) beneath them.
When the mineral estate has been separated from the surface estate — and in Texas, the mineral estate is dominant.
The updated federal rainfall-frequency study that caused several Texas jurisdictions to redraw their regulatory floodplains substantially larger.
The single accountable party who manages a development on the owner's behalf, coordinating every specialist from site selection to delivery.
A ready-to-build parcel, often at the front of a larger development, prepared for a single freestanding building.
The standard investigation into whether a property carries evidence of contamination, performed before acquisition.
When a property's in-place return exceeds its borrowing cost, so using debt increases the return on equity.
A building whose primary steel structure is engineered and fabricated off-site to a specific design, then erected on a prepared pad.
An independent third party that holds the proceeds of a sale during a 1031 exchange so the investor never takes receipt of the funds.
The floodplain a local jurisdiction actually enforces, which can be materially larger than the FEMA-mapped floodplain.
Land a developer is required to convey for future roadway at the time of platting.
A study a jurisdiction requires once a project is expected to generate traffic above a set threshold, often triggering required road improvements.
A lease in which the tenant pays property taxes, insurance, and maintenance in addition to base rent.
What remains of a site after floodplain, buffers, easements, detention, right-of-way dedication and unbuildable slope are removed.
A real estate strategy that increases an asset's value through improvement, repositioning, or better management.
The TCEQ approval required before disturbing soil on a site in the Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone.
A written commitment from a utility provider confirming it will supply service to a specific property — and on what terms and timeline.
