COMMENT OF THE DAY: DON’T TRY TO LUMP ALL THAT EMPTY HOUSTON OFFICE SPACE TOGETHER 
“ . . . Worth mentioning that 50 percent [vacancy] in Greenspoint versus 26 percent in Houston as a whole tells me a much different story than the one they are telling: that the damage may be regional and dependent on location. I’m sure it’s down all over, but Houston is a big market. It’s irresponsible not to recognize regional differences in an article like this.” [MrEction, commenting on Levy Park’s Transformation; Moving On from the Bayport Cruise Terminal Boondoggle; previously on Swamplot] Illustration: Lulu
Sign up for the Newsletter
Is Greenspoint still nicknamed “Gunspoint”?
Mr Clean19. Yes. Don’t visit the mall without a cyanide capsule at the ready.
A point well noted, but I’d think that in Houston’s case the west & north side sub-markets that have been crippled are close enough to cannibalize the inner loop markets (still lots of O&G companies leasing in the loop). Outside of the high margin industries like medical, law & trading that need to cluster centrally, I’d assume most of Houston’s businesses could easily pick up and move if the cost are worth it.
.
And yes, greenspoint will always be gunspoint. Things don’t change quickly around here.
Perception is worse than reality in Greenspoint. The mall is a dump and, as a 5’7″ white guy with kids and no street cred, I wouldn’t hang around here at night…. However I’ve worked here for 8 years, driven all around it, stop for gas and go out to eat lunch in the area almost daily. I used to go to the mall when it had a food court but don’t go anymore not because I’m scared but because there’s no reason to go. I’ve NEVER had anything remotely worrying or scary happen to me and I haven’t heard of any other incident from anyone else in my large-ish company that is still located here (but eventually moving). It’s not very different than large swaths of Houston. Truth be told, I’d be more worried walking through Midtown than Greenspoint. You all sound either ignorant or like a bunch of p()ssies.
A 50% occupancy rate created because a company moved a slew of employees to a shiny new corporate megacampus is a good thing. Of course the old ExxonMobil campus in Greenspoint isn’t even worth the cost of carry. Greenspoint fell apart all around that campus over the past thirty years. And it is a costly affair to retool a corporate campus into office rental suites. Handing the keys to the bank is probably the best bet to get rid of that albatross. This is just a good composting of office space. The piles of old office space will turn into new low cost space that will hopefully attract some diversification for the Houston economy.
As for the energy corridor, they are fucked.
The problem with greenspoint is it hasn’t grown with the rest of the city as much, but the buildings and streets are nice and still impresses as good or better than newer made business districts on it’s looks. There’s been some good future ideas for the area, too, but the area just hasn’t come to the ideal time for that to happen. The mall seriously need repaired, though, etc.
The office buildings in Greenspoint are actually quite nice. Whoever buys them from lender who now owns them, should buy the mall and as much of the local junk as they can. Bulldoze and redevelop the junk so it no longer clouds the jewels. Still…. It’s hard to overcome the local apartment market.
Hey Protagoras, I’m no slouch. I can be both at once!
To be fair, the same applies for most all of the bad areas in Houston and Greenspoint isn’t far off the beaten path to begin with. They’re perfectly fine during the day, but having to live there and deal with the nonsense and trappings of apt complex crime on a routine basis is a completely different story.