- BP Investing Millions in Renovations to ‘Modernize’ Energy Corridor HQ [HBJ ($)]
- Allendale Shopping Center in Pasadena Sold to SJGZ Investments [Realty News Report]
- JLL’s Bruce Rutherford: Energy Corridor Has ‘No Demand’ for Land Deals Right Now [HBJ]
- Developers: Only the Experienced Survive in Houston’s Condo Market [HBJ]
- Condo Sales, Prices In Houston Between January and May Were Up over Last Year[Realty News Report]
- Port of Houston To Sell Bayport Cruise Terminal’s Gangway System Following Failed Cruise Bid [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
- Levy Park’s $15M Makeover Under Way with Pavilion, Elevated Boardwalk, Dog Park Under Construction [Houston Chronicle]
- Texas Children’s Pavilion for Women To Open Zika Clinic [HBJ]
- Houston Has One of the Worst Commutes in America Based on Home Access to Job Centers, Finds Redfin [HBJ]
- Houston Undergoing ‘Real Estate Meltdown’, Says San Francisco-Based Wolf Street [Business Insider]
Photo: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool
Headlines
Ouch, a full 26% of all office space in Houston up for lease? That number is still going to increase a lot more before it ever starts trending downwards. Sure seems like we’re looking at a lost decade for new office space in Houston after this, but anyone know how this compared to the 80’s bust in the office market?
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I know someone mentioned it previously, but even these currently reduced footprints for the O&G companies will probably still allow for a few years of growth before needing to expand due to all the empty floors & cubicles the companies are having to sit on.
it looks like that “article” from business insider is using an image of bangkok from shutterstock and labelling it as houston.
@ Real Estate Meltdown
While the article has salient points, I can’t take it serious when the picture of Houston is incorrect.
Some brief poking around seems to suggest that the 1980s vacancy rate in Houston was in the neighborhood of 30%. Interestingly enough, during the same period Austin was pushing 40%.
People who use non-zero intercepts on graphs as a means to make changes look larger than they are should be rounded up, taken behind the chemical shed, and given a stern talking to. Not that the change isn’t bad, it’s really bad, but that graph is still intentionally misleading.
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Also, worth mentioning that 50% in Greenspoint vs 26% in Houston as a whole tells me a much different story than the one they are telling, the damage 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.
Re: Houston Undergoing ‘Real Estate Meltdown’, Says San Francisco-Based Wolf Street
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The article is pure bullshit from a SF Houston hater. For over a year the media (inside Texas and out) has pushed a false narrative that Houston is imploding, when in fact it’s holding steadily in the midst of fierce political forces trying to break it. That’s the real headline: Houston survives and thrives in spite of the ‘man-made’ oil flux. Thank God for its resilience and diversification. Houston is doing just as well as anywhere else in this shitty US economy, considering. The fact that Houston is still humming along after all its haters has thrown at it, is pissing them off…and these media missives from people and places who wish ill of Houston should be shown the middle-finger. Houston is still here and still growing; but for its haters, that’s the problem. Eat sh!t and die, Houston haters.
@Honest Truth, I would just dial it down a bit as there’s thousands and thousands of energy industry workers that would have a drastically different viewpoint than yourself. While we may be surviving, we’re clearly showing the pains of having a lack of better economic diversification. Our unemployment rate has increased while the national average has continued to decrease and we now have a higher unemployment rate than the rest of the country with the worst yet to come.
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I remember Perry trumpeting to businesses all over California that Texas was growing leaps and bounds and was the place to be. I think it’s only fair for them to have their turn to proselytize as well. Everyone plays the game
Re: Bayport Cruise Terminal Boondoggle
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Now that was a waste of $108 million in taxpayer dollars. I remember voting against the bond issue back in the day and I’m sure we’ll still paying these off along with the renovation bond proceeds for the Astrodome.
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Boondoggle is a perfect word.
Re: Bayport
Holy cow…what a boondoggle. $100 million to build it using taxpayer money, then shutter it less than 10 years later, never returning a profit. I have a feeling some engineering firms and others with ties to the project made off with hefty sums, though. If journalism were not dead in Texas, this would make for a prime investigative piece. I bet you could bring down 5 politicians with the scum you would rake up.