CBRE: Houston 2014 industrial market exceptionally strong

HOUSTON – Eighty-five industrial buildings, totaling 8.9 million sf, are under construction in the Greater Houston industrial market, according to CBRE.

Last year was exceptionally strong for construction of warehouses and industrial buildings. Some 12 million sf of new space was completed in 2014, the highest annual total since 2008, CBRE reported.

The strength in the market is powered by exceptional job growth and a surge in the petrochemical industry.

Despite the addition of new space, the Houston industrial vacancy rate dipped to 4.9 percent in the first quarter of 2015, the lowest vacancy rate in more than a decade, CBRE said.

The submarkets with the largest concentration of development are the Northwest with 28 projects totaling 3.4 million sf, the North with 36 projects totaling 2.3 million sf, and the Southeast with eight projects totaling 1.8 million sf.

The largest project under construction is Fallbrook Pines Business Park, by Trammell Crow Co. and joint venture partner Clarion Partners in northwest Houston. The first phase, scheduled for completion 1Q 2015, will include four concrete, tilt-wall office/warehouse buildings totaling 709,045 sf.

Cresa is developing the Lower Kirby District, scheduled to break ground this summer. The 500,000-sf industrial Class A park planned for 32 acres off SH 288. The initial phase of the project will be an 181,000-sf building fronting Kirby Dr. and Airport Blvd. that is 60 percent preleased.