Seven of top 10 “top real estate markets to watch” are in the South
Dallas-Fort Worth retained its No. 1 spot in the Emerging Trends in Real Estate report by the Urban Land Institute and PricewaterhouseCoopers. It is the third consecutive year Dallas-Fort Worth has earned the top spot.
Top 10 Real Estate Markets in the U.S.
- Dallas-Fort Worth
- Nashville
- Miami
- Raleigh-Durham
- San Francisco
- Houston
- Manhattan
- Jersey City
- Tampa-St. Pete
- Charlotte
Source: Urban Land Institute and PricewaterhouseCoopers
Reshoring saw an increase in first half of 2026
According to the Reshoring Initiative, recent data shows that manufacturers increased their interest in reshoring operations in the Q1 and Q2. The 2026 USA Reshoring Survey Report from the Reshoring Initiative showed that 36 percent of OEMs had reshored or were actively engaged in additional reshoring in the first half of 2026. The figure was an increase from 29 percent during the same period in 2025. Also, 32 percent of contract manufacturers said they were currently quoting reshoring projects, double the same data from 2025.
Reasons for Reshoring: 2026 USA Reshoring Survey Report
- Tariffs – 65 percent
- Geopolitical Risk – 60 percent
- Proximity to Customers – 50 percent
- Made-in-the-USA Brand – 40 percent
- Quality/Rework/Warranty – 25 percent
Source: Reshoring Initiative
ALABAMA
Alabama auto plant has hit a huge milestone
Huntsville’s Mazda Toyota Manufacturing plant is celebrating a milestone after its one-millionth vehicle has rolled off the line. Toyota began producing vehicles at the $2.3 billion plant in September 2021, while Mazda production began in January 2022.
The factory produces the Mazda CX-50 SUV and the Toyota Corolla Cross SUV and employs 4,500 team members, according to Autoblog.
ARKANSAS
Google and Entergy Arkansas expand data center energy project
According to the Daily Energy Insider, Entergy Arkansas plans to invest about $600 million in power grid upgrades and new energy sources in support of Google’s hyperscale data center in West Memphis, Ark. The grid upgrades are expected to save 738,000 Arkansas Entergy customers at least $500 million beginning in 2028, and continuing over 20 years.
Laura Landreaux, CEO of Entergy Arkansas, said, “Google is increasing its investment in West Memphis and building on the significant success of its first phase. We are delivering on our promise to all Entergy Arkansas customers to create value for everyone we serve by ensuring Google is not only paying 100 percent of its power needs but is also contributing to the existing grid and lowering the cost for everyone else.”
NORTH CAROLINA
North Carolina leads U.S. in biological manufacturing employment
North Carolina’s biomanufacturing workforce grew by 29 percent from 2021 to 2025, nearly doubling the national growth rate of 15.8 percent. As of the end of 2025, North Carolina had 6,816 workers in biomanufacturing. New York ranks second with 6,252 employed in the sector.
Some of the recent projects in North Carolina include:
- Genentech: Building a $2 billion manufacturing campus in Holly Springs, N.C.
- Amgen: Investing $1.5 billion in an expanding campus in Holly Springs
- Fujifilm Biotechnologies: Building a $3.2 billion facility in the Triangle region and Eastern North Carolina
- Johnson & Johnson: Constructing a $2 billion biologics plant in Wilson, N.C.
- AbbVie: Planning a $1.4 billion manufacturing facility in Durham, N.C.
To gather and prepare the workforce for these projects, specialized training pipelines like the BioWork certificate program at community colleges and N.C. State’s Biomanufacturing Training and Education Center are in place and working to fill the thousands of jobs being created in the Triangle Region and Eastern North Carolina.
Toyota Battery has reached 50 percent buildout with nearly 2,800 workers in North Carolina
Toyota Battery Manufacturing North Carolina (TBMNC) in Liberty, N.C., has reached 50 percent buildout with nearly 2,800 workers in its quest for 5,100 workers by 2034 with the completion of the plant. The completion of the plant depends heavily on consumer demand for electric and hybrid vehicles. To date, most employees live in Guilford and Randolph Counties, with others commuting from Forsyth, Alamance and other surrounding areas.
A break in the data center run?
Duke Energy didn’t sign a single data center service contract in Q3. According to A.I. sources, Charlotte-based Duke Energy is in negotiations with data center companies, but CFO Brian Savoy said that some customers were waiting for regulatory clarity on proposed large-load tariff structures. Duke has signed 22 major data center power contracts so far across North and South Carolina.
TENNESSEE
Anthropic is paying SpaceX $3.1 billion a month for Memphis-based A.I. computing power
A.I. behemoth Anthropic has expanded its computing power deal with Elon Musk’s SpaceXAI to over $3 billion per month. It is part of a deal of roughly $120.5 billion between Anthropic and SpaceXAI that runs through 2029. SpaceXAI’s massive GPU Nvidia clusters are housed at the Colossus data center facility in Memphis.
Oracle breaks ground on global HQ in Nashville
Tech giant Oracle is moving forward with its $4.5 billion global headquarters on Nashville’s East Bank in downtown Nashville. The 82-acre mixed-use campus will include up to 2 million square feet of space in up to 25 buildings. The headquarters campus is expected to house 8,500 workers by the end of 2031.
The campus will include office space, a Nobu Hotel, retail options, a central park, a riverfront greenway and a pedestrian bridge.
Oracle has chosen Turner Construction and Archer Wester as construction partners, and they plan to hire around 5,000 construction workers during the buildout.
Greater Memphis Chamber names new president and CEO
The Greater Memphis Chamber announced on November 6th the selection of Joshua Gunn as its incoming president and CEO. The process included a national search conducted by a dedicated Search Selection Committee.
Gunn brings more than 15 years of executive leadership spanning regional chambers of commerce, major project development and municipal economic policy. A former member of the National Board of Directors for the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives (ACCE), Gunn has led chambers across diverse, high growth markets and directed public-sector economic deal-making from both sides of the negotiating table.
Gunn’s experience includes corporate recruitment, advanced manufacturing, life sciences, workforce development and innovation-driven economic growth. Most recently, Gunn served as the Director of the Office of Economic and Workforce Development for the City of Durham, N.C.
TEXAS
Taiwan Semiconductor actively evaluating sites in Texas
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSMC) confirmed the company has sent evaluation teams to Texas to assess options for a multi-fab campus that could include up to six advanced wafer fabs. Each facility is expected to cost roughly $20 billion.
TSMC is also in preliminary talks with Elon Musk’s SpaceX, Tesla and xAI regarding the potential involvement in Terafab, a massive 100-million-square-foot manufacturing complex proposed for Grimes County, Texas. However, TSMC also wants its own chip plant in Texas. Plans are still in the early evaluation phase and if built, it would be the second TSMC chip fab complex outside of the one it operates in Arizona.
All signs point to Sherman, Texas for Taiwan Semiconductor
Recent state filings and industry reports are pointing to Sherman, Texas, a massive semiconductor cluster area located about 60 miles north of Dallas, as the location for the giant TSMC chip plant.
Texas Instruments (TI) operates a very large semiconductor mega-site in Sherman that represents a $40 billion multi-fab investment to date. TI plans to expand its fab factories in Sherman, including SM2, SM3 and SM4.
According to state documents, TSMC’s long-term plan for Texas could eventually expand to six fabs, rivaling or exceeding its $265 billion commitment in Arizona. Word on the street says TSMC envisions linking its Arizona production base with a new Texas hub to build a robust, twin-hub advanced chip ecosystem across the American South to meet skyrocketing A.I. demand from clients like Apple and Nvidia.
Plano, Texas is just too good at capturing HQs
Chalk up another headquarters operation moving to Plano, a Dallas suburb. FleetPride, a truck and trailer parts distributor, plans to relocate its corporate office from nearby Irving to a renovated space at Granite Park 3. FleetPride will relocate at least 325 jobs in the deal.
DFW Airport is well underway building its sixth terminal, the $4 billion Terminal F
Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport has reached some milestones as it builds a new terminal under a $12 billion capital improvement project known as DFW Forward. Terminal F will be the first new terminal for the airport since Terminal D opened in 2005. The new terminal alone is expected to generate $6.1 billion in regional gross product and nearly 55,000 jobs at full buildout.
McKinney becomes third commercial airport in North Texas
The McKinney, Texas National Airport is about to begin commercial airline service, joining Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) and Dallas Love Field (DAL) providing service in North Texas. Avelo Airlines will start serving the airport with a small fleet of two 737-800 aircraft. Initial flights from McKinney in Avelo’s network include Las Vegas, Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Orlando and Tampa.
Texas-based Toyota North America named new CEO last week
In November, Plano, Texas-based Toyota Motor North America (TMNA) announced a leadership transition effective Jan. 1, 2027. Ted Ogawa, TMNA’s president and CEO, will return to Toyota Motor in Japan as Senior Fellow. In this role, he will oversee external affairs activities for some Toyota-owned businesses.
Effective January 1, 2027, Mark Templin, TMNA’s executive vice president and COO, will succeed Ogawa as president and CEO. Hiroshi Nambu, currently the president of TMC’s Business Planning & Operation division, will succeed Templin as TMNA’s COO.
$8.2 billion LNG project off the coast of Texas wins approval
ST LNG has won approval from the Maritime Administration to build a deepwater LNG export facility approximately 10 miles offshore from Matagorda, Texas (southwest of Houston). The facility will be designed to export about 8.4 million metric tons of liquified natural gas per year from four floating liquefaction units. The $8.2 billion project is expected to create about 2,000 construction jobs and over 800 permanent jobs.
UT MD Anderson announces historic expansion of its Cancer Center in Houston
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center announced in November the historic expansion of its Texas Medical Center campus through two new facilities: Inspiration Tower and Prism. Together, these facilities will fundamentally reshape the future of cancer care and elevate patient experience, enabling UT MD Anderson to care for nearly 250,000 patients annually. The $3.4 billion project will add 2 million square feet to the 20-million-square-foot campus.
Venture capital exec claims that space industry could top energy sector employment in Texas
Blair Garrou of the venture capital firm Mercury Fund, stated in November that Houston’s space industry could surpass the local Houston energy sector in employment within 10 to 15 years. According to A.I., the U.S. and Texas space economies are experiencing rapid growth, with projections pointing to hundreds of thousands of new high-paying aerospace and commercial space jobs in the coming years.
