A slew of factors – the city’s booming petrochemical business, more demand from distribution users and even Hurricane Harvey – have all contributed to Houston’s robust pipeline of industrial leases signed so far in 2017.

The 10 largest industrial leases signed in Houston in 2017 as of Oct. 17 account for nearly 4 million square feet of leased space. 

A slew of tenants – retailers, third-party logistics companies, a global automotive brand and plenty of companies tethered to the energy and petrochemical industries – fueled the city’s biggest deals. And while the Port Houston area absorbed many of the leases, there were plenty of deals closed in the northwest Houston area.

Click to read more at Houston Business Journal. 

Despite a sector-wide slowdown in leasing activity, the retailers that are resistant to e-commerce are still generating deals throughout Houston.

Boutique fitness tenants and restaurants are fueling the retail sector’s leasing activity, per a report from JLL, as other retail tenants recalibrate their leasing strategies amid increased competition from e-commerce businesses. In the third quarter, the Houston retail market’s availability rose 0.5 percent to 7.7 percent, according to the report, but this is still well-below the sector’s long-term availability average.

Several boutique fitness concepts have either opened or are expanding in Houston. In September, Title Boxing Club announced its plans to open 20 Houston locations over the next six years. The company currently has threeHouston-area locations in Houston, Missouri City and The Woodlands.

Click to read more at Houston Business Journal. 

The 10 largest office blocks available for sublease in Houston are all on the market from energy companies. Of the top 10, Cushman & Wakefield is marketing the most with four, according to Commercial Gateway.

The 10 largest spaces available for sublease range from 189,285 square feet to 504,327 square feet, the latter being Four Westlake Park, which was put on the sublease market by BP last year.

Click to read more at Houston Business Journal. 

Despite broader economic recoveries, Houston’s office market is still struggling to recover from the sluggish demand and absorption brought on by the energy slump.

In the third quarter of 2017, the average office deal size across all property types was just 4,700 square feet, according to a report from the Houston office of Chicago-based JLL. The average office deal size in Houston has been steadily decreasing since 2014, when the average deal size was roughly 7,000 square feet. In 2015 and 2016 , the average deal sizes were around 6,000 square feet and 5,000 square feet, respectively.

Click to read more at Houston Business Journal.

More than 50 percent of the industrial leases signed in the third quarter were in the north Houston submarket, per data from JLL. The submarket, which has historically struggled with high vacancy, also housed more than 40 percent of the third-quarter’s net absorption in the industrial arena.

JLL, in the company’s third-quarter industrial report, said the north submarket was assisted by landlords lowering rents to fill vacant space

Granted, the north submarket still has highest vacancy rate in Houston. The north Houston submarket is sitting on an 8.6 percent vacancy rate for industrial buildings, per JLL. The lowest vacancy rate is in the south submarket with 2.2 percent vacancy, according to JLL.

Click to read more at Houston Business Journal. 

Houston developers and homebuilders often consider the quality of local schools when determining the location of their next master-planned community or subdivision of homes.

That’s because for many Houston families with school-aged children, the quality of the local school district and campuses play an outsized role in their homebuying decision. In fact, new homes in a well-regarded school district can often charge a 5 to 10 percent premium over new homes in less desirable districts, according to Metrostudy.

While there are many school ranking systems — from the official Texas Education Agency’s A-F school rating system to third-party lists like GreatSchools.org — looking at where Houston homebuilders are starting homes is a strong indicator of school quality.

Click to read more at Houston Business Journal.