HOUSTON—As of first quarter, it's all about development in the industrial market. According to JLL Houston, there is approximately 6.7 million square feet currently under construction. The top five largest industrial construction projects are greater than 500,000 square feet, in fact, they total more than 2.5 million square feet. This includes a mix of build-to-suit and speculative developments.
Speculative construction made up about 70% of new development in the last two quarters. In 2016 and early 2017, it accounted for only 45% of new construction. The construction pipeline is expected to continue to grow, thanks to sub-5% vacancy, the JLL report says.
Houston's big three submarkets dominated first quarter leasing and construction activity. The northwest, southeast and north accounted for more than 77% of leasing activity and more than 90% of construction activity in the first quarter. Nine of the top 10 projects under construction fall into one of these three submarkets.
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Lisa Brown
Lisa Brown is an editor for the south and west regions of GlobeSt.com. She has 25-plus years of real estate experience, with a regional PR role at Grubb & Ellis and a national communications position at MMI. Brown also spent 10 years as executive director at NAIOP San Francisco Bay Area chapter, where she led the organization to achieving its first national award honors and recognition on Capitol Hill. She has written extensively on commercial real estate topics and edited numerous pieces on the subject.
