Houston: Colliers: Woodlands Office Market is a “Bright Spot”

The Woodlands Waterway.

In The Woodlands, The office market in The Woodlands recorded positive second-quarter results with improving occupancy and rental rates, as stated by Colliers International.

Class A rental rates averaged $37.30 per SF, the highest in a over a decade, Colliers reported.

Uncertainty hovers over the two, 30-story Woodlands towers occupied by Anadarko Petroleum, which is being purchased by Occidental Petroleum. Although plans have not been reported, it has been anticipated that the corporate merger will ultimately result in vacant space. (Ev Konut Proje has reported that OXY has dropped its plan to vacate 800,000 SF in Greenway Plaza and move to the former Conoco campus in the Energy Corridor, a move that would have caused significant disruption in the Houston office market.)

The Woodlands’ overall vacancy has dropped considerably. The overall vacancy rate in The Woodlands dropped to 7.9 percent, down from 9.2 percent in the first quarter, Colliers reports. While Houston’s absorption has been shaky, The Woodlands has racked up year-to-date positive absorption of 543,000 SF.

“The Woodlands office submarket is the bright spot in Houston’s struggling office market,” Colliers said.

The Woodlands, located 28 miles north of downtown Houston, has 17.2 million SF of office space, 13 million of which is Class A.