Lockheed Martin’s expansion in Grand Prairie leads this week’s edition. We also look at falling industrial vacancy in DFW, a Texas farm-payment estimate, financing for an operating battery project in Brazoria County, and planned rural-health grants. In Dallas, WATTER says its system at the Hyatt Regency reuses heat from AI servers for the hotel’s hot water.

At its Grand Prairie operation, Lockheed Martin is transforming 85,000 square feet of office space into manufacturing areas. Separately, the company says more than 30 added machines are producing thousands of components each week. The expansion also adds 100,000 square feet of new space. Lockheed says it is investing $300 million at the site. A 24-machine Hadrian cell is expected to operate in early 2027. The company plans 2,000 Texas hires within 6,000 U.S. hires; it does not assign all Texas hires to Grand Prairie. Lockheed Martin’s announcement describes the expansion and hiring plans.

The Farm Service Agency estimates about $1.2 billion across 2025 crop-year safety-net payments and 2026 conservation payments in Texas. The total combines two program years and is not a fully paid amount. Sixteen Texas crops triggered 2025 Price Loss Coverage (PLC) payments. FSA also reports 1.7 million additional Texas base acres that affect Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and PLC eligibility from crop year 2026. Payment limits and 5.7% sequestration apply to ARC/PLC payments. Producer calculations continue, and rice payment amounts await final prices. The Texas FSA update gives the program periods and qualifications.

Cushman & Wakefield Research reports 22.7 million square feet of DFW industrial leasing in Q3 and 13.9 million square feet of positive net absorption, a measure of occupied-space change. Overall vacancy was 7.3%, down from the prior quarter and year earlier. The report puts asking rent at $9.76 net per square foot, not a signed lease rate. It says availability remains low for buildings of at least 500,000 square feet. The reported asking-rent rise partly reflects fewer large, lower-rent spaces available, so it does not show what tenants pay for comparable space. The Q3 report gives the measures and caveat.

On October 13, Nightpeak said financing was complete for Bocanova 2, its 150-megawatt, two-hour battery phase in Brazoria County. The phase began commercial operation on September 17 and brings the site to 300 megawatts across two phases. Nightpeak says the project has a long-term offtake agreement with an unnamed investment-grade counterparty. It says MUFG provided loans. The release does not give the financing amount, loan terms, contract price, or operating results. Nightpeak’s announcement describes the financing and operation.

Texas plans to award about $78.1 million to 216 rural health providers, using part of a $281.3 million first-year federal award. The grants may support chronic-disease work, recruitment and retention, equipment, and facility improvements. Providers can access funds after contracts are finalized. The state release does not list the planned amount for each provider. The state announcement gives the intended uses and contract condition.

WATTER says its live Hyatt Regency Dallas deployment reuses server heat for hotel hot water; it reports no measured savings.

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Jason Gould
Editor, The Texas Bell