Accomplishments
The Houston Real Estate Council (HREC) is an industry advocacy group created to address public policy and regulatory issues affecting the real estate industry. It is comprised of representatives of office, retail, industrial, multi-family and single-family ownership/investment and development interests. HREC members participate on committees and task forces to lend expertise whenever possible. HREC is part of a group of real estate councils from other major Texas cities, which participate in a Lobby Days event each session to meet with representatives in the Texas legislature.
City of Houston Planning Initiatives
- HREC worked with the City of Houston (the “City”) Planning & Development
Department to reach agreed-upon changes to hi-rise and mid-rise buffering on streets adjacent to residential buildings, which include setbacks, exterior lighting standards, and garage and dumpster screening. In the case of garage screening, HREC negotiated a compromise that averted the costly addition of a mechanically ventilated garage based on new garage screening standards. - The City pursued a conservation district ordinance proposal that could have applied to many areas of Houston and created deed restrictions on any property (including commercial property) with only 51% support of the property owners. HREC fought successfully to reduce its application to only six pilot areas in underserved communities. HREC requested that the City include an opt-out provision, similar to new deed restrictions. However, given the low percentage of support needed to create a district, the City denied that option. HREC turned to the Texas Legislature to fix this potentially costly issue. (see 2023 Legislative Session below)
City of Houston Permitting
- Sit on the Construction Industry Council that has been active in the 2021 Code Modernization Project.
- Continue to work with Permitting and serve on the Permitting Task Force.
- Began quarterly meetings with the Deputy Director of the Houston Permitting Center and his team on how to improve the center’s functions.
Harris County Fire Marshall
- Met with the County Fire Marshall and Harris County Engineering on the issue of building spec office in warehouse and change of name. The County discussed the methods they have available to approach permitting and calculating fees for these types of developments differently.
2023 Legislative Session
- The Conservation District (opt out) bill, HB 4057, was approved by the House and
Senate and signed into law by Governor Abbott. The bill was championed by a coalition that included HREC, HRBC, GHBA, HAA, and NAIOP to reign in the possibility of hostile restrictions being added to a property without the property owner’s consent. - In 2021, HREC worked with similar interests to pass meaningful lien law reform, a
topic that the contractors’ lobby had pursued for several sessions. Despite an understanding that the 2021 revisions should be given time to settle, the contractors’ lobby again filed bills on retainage this session, including HB 1963, which upended long-standing Texas law to treat 10% retainage as “trust funds” and subjected owners (including residential) to potential felony charges if misapplied. A coalition of the realtors, mortgage bankers, and the development community defeated this bill. HREC is already planning for 2025 to proactively block similar legislation. - Supported HB 2127, originally known as the ASSET legislation, that was signed by the Governor. It prevents local jurisdictions from enacting costly business regulations that exceed those specified by state and federal laws.
- Several bills on foreign ownership restrictions were introduced on this topic, including by Senator Kolkhurst (District 18). HREC communicated its concerns about the breadth of the legislation and potential pitfalls, and none of the bills passed into law.
Waters of the U.S.
- HREC worked through the coalition known as TARGET on litigation surrounding the Waters of the U.S. restriction on Texas Coastal Prairies just as the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the EPA had vastly overstepped their definition of a wetlands. The Court basically said wetlands must show a continuous surface connection of waterways. This means the Coastal Prairie definition may finally be at an end.
