Office Construction Bottoming Out

Though office vacancy remained high during Q1 2017 in the greater Houston area, reports from CBRE and Newmark Grubb Knight Frank (NGKF) were cautiously optimistic that the construction activity that had ramped up during the boom years is finally coming to an end. “Construction will likely be muted for several years, until the market regains its footing,” noted NGKF’s “Houston 1Q17 Office Market” report.

CBRE’s “Marketview” also indicated that available sublet space is also contracting. These days, however, it is definitely a tenant’s market, meaning brokers are “finding it much harder to close leases, due to the sheer number of options tenants have available,” the CBRE report said.