Houston office 2012 highlights

HOUSTON – Houston’s healthy economy across several submarkets drove the office real estate sector to one of its most active quarters ever in fourth quarter 2012.

The Woodlands had nearly 1.1 million sf of office under construction or renovation in the four months leading up to December 2012. Meanwhile, the Katy Freeway area had more than 1.4 million.

Rents are high in many submarkets, such as the Galleria, Central Business District and west Houston, though Steve Burkett, executive vice president with Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. The Woodlands is one area that saw strong gains in rental rates last quarter, according the Burkett.

Here’s a quick look at some notable office activity from 4Q 2012.

• Cathexis Holdings DE LLC expanded by more than 26,000 sf in 1000 Louisiana. An undisclosed tenant took more than 40,000 sf of space in the same building.
• Phoenix Tower at 3200 Southwest Fwy. sold for $124.5 million, or $198 per sf, to Parkway Properties Inc. The 629,000-sf building is about 85 percent occupied.
• Invesco Real Estate “agreed in principle” to purchase Williams Tower from Hines REIT for a reported $420 million or $284 per sf.
• Along the Katy Fwy., year-to-date direct absorption in Class A and Class B buildings was more than 1.1 million sf total.
   

Read more at the Houston Business Journal.