Houston office construction hits highest level since 1980s

HOUSTON – Office space under construction has increased by about 54 percent over the last 12 months, and more than half of that space is leased or committed. It is the highest level the area has seen since the boom of the 1980s.

There is currently 19 million sf of office space under construction in the Houston area, of which about 36 percent is corporate-owned office space.

Under construction sf includes

• Exxon Mobil’s 3 million-sf campus in north Houston,
• Phillips 66’s 1.1 million-sf campus in Westchase, and
• Southwestern Energy’s 515,000-sf office building in Springwood Village, according to PM Realty.

About 5.4 million sf of new space is expected to deliver by the end of the year, which will bring the yearly delivery total to 10.8 million sf — far exceeding last year’s delivery total of 3.2 million sf.

In response to the construction boom, Houston added more construction jobs to its market than any other major metro in the country from August 2013 to August 2014, according to a survey conducted by The Associated General Contractors of America.