flexiblefullpage
billboard
interstitial1
catfish1
Currently Reading

Houston's energy sector keeps office construction humming

Office Buildings

Houston's energy sector keeps office construction humming

Colliers International projects continued expansion this year in its quarterly report on national office market. 


By John Caulfield, Senior Editor | June 12, 2015
Houston's energy sector keeps office construction humming

Colliers International’s 2015 North America Office Market report assessed 92 markets in the U.S. and Canada. Image: Pixabay

Houston continues to be a paradise for AEC firms. The Texas metroplex has more than 14.4 million sf of office construction in the works, making it the No. 1 market in North America for office building, according to Colliers International’s 2015 North America Office Market report.

This report assesses 92 markets in the U.S. and Canada, and analyzes factors and trends that might impact the office construction market’s health. Despite a slow first quarter, Colliers is forecasting growth for this year.

The top 10 markets in North America, in descending order, are Houston, Seattle/Puget Sound, San Jose, Washington D.C., Dallas, Toronto, Calgary, San Francisco, Boston, and Phoenix. Combined, they accounted for 58% of the 113.8 million sf of office space underway in the U.S. and Canada in the first quarter of this year. That percentage is more than double these markets’ 27% share of existing office inventory.

As of the first quarter, office construction in the United States stood at 95.2 million sf, or 1% off from the same period a year earlier. However, deliveries in the first quarter, at 16 million sf, were the highest they’d been since the third quarter of 2009. Colliers says demand for new space “remains voracious” high-tech oriented markets. On the other hand, the greatest oversupply risk is in energy driven markets.

Colliers still sees the U.S. office market as positioned for expansion this year. “Growth in nearly every subsector of the primary office-using employment sectors in Q1 2015 despite numerous headwinds bodes well for office demand going forward,” it predicts. And outside of a handful of markets, oversupply is not a concern. 

Among the 10 largest office construction markets:

• Seattle has 8.29 million sf under construction, the vast majority of which is being built in its downtown area, where existing inventory exceeds 56 million sf.

• In San Jose, all of its 8.1 million sf of new office construction is occurring in the suburbs, which already have 68.4 million sf of existing office space available, but where San Jose’s vacancy rate is only 8%.

• Washington D.C. has an 11.7% urban vacancy rate and a 17.5% suburban vacancy rate. Nevertheless, Washington has nearly 4.4.million sf of office space under construction in its suburbs, and another 2.4 million sf being built in its downtown. 

• Only 450,000 sf of the 5.8 million sf of offices under construction in Dallas will be downtown. The same dynamic is occurring in Houston, where only 1.4 million sf of its total office construction is downtown. 

Related Stories

Office Buildings | Oct 8, 2019

David Chipperfield Architects to design new Rolex USA headquarters

The project will replace the existing building that has been occupied by Rolex since the 1970s.

Healthcare Facilities | Oct 1, 2019

Medical offices are filling space vacated by retail

Healthcare developers and providers like the locations, traffic, and parking these spaces offer.

Office Buildings | Sep 25, 2019

'Catalyst' will be Washington’s first CLT office building

Katerra is the design builder for the project with Michael Green Architecture as the design architect.

Office Buildings | Sep 6, 2019

New office complex in Southern California strives to create a Silicon Valley-like campus vibe

FLIGHT at Tustin Legacy includes 100,000 sf of amenities, and is laid out to tie into the surrounding city.

Office Buildings | Sep 3, 2019

A new HOK report focuses on designing offices for a neurodiverse workforce

Emphasizing inclusion and choice is a key component.

Giants 400 | Aug 8, 2019

Top 110 Office Sector Construction Firms for 2019

Turner, STO Building Group, AECOM, Clayco, and Clark lead the rankings of the nation's largest office sector contractors and construction managers, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2019 Giants 300 Report. 

Giants 400 | Aug 8, 2019

Top 100 Office Sector Engineering Firms for 2019

Jacobs, Burns & McDonnell, WSP, Thornton Tomasetti, and Arup head the rankings of the nation's largest office sector engineering and engineering architecture (EA) firms, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2019 Giants 300 Report.

Giants 400 | Aug 8, 2019

Top 200 Office Sector Architecture Firms for 2019

Gensler, AECOM, Perkins+Will, Stantec, and HOK top the rankings of the nation's largest office sector architecture and architecture engineering (AE) firms, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2019 Giants 300 Report.

Giants 400 | Aug 8, 2019

2019 Office Giants Report: Demand for exceptional workplaces will keep the office construction market strong

Office space consolidation and workplace upgrades will keep project teams busy, according to BD+C's 2019 Giants 300 Report.

Office Buildings | Jul 12, 2019

How Millennials, Gen Z, and technology are changing workplace design

In the workplace, the only constant is change.

boombox1
boombox2
native1

More In Category



Sustainable Design and Construction

Northglenn, a Denver suburb, opens a net zero, all-electric city hall with a mass timber structure

Northglenn, Colo., a Denver suburb, has opened the new Northglenn City Hall—a net zero, fully electric building with a mass timber structure. The 32,600-sf, $33.7 million building houses 60 city staffers. Designed by Anderson Mason Dale Architects, Northglenn City Hall is set to become the first municipal building in Colorado, and one of the first in the country, to achieve the Core certification: a green building rating system overseen by the International Living Future Institute.


MFPRO+ News

San Francisco unveils guidelines to streamline office-to-residential conversions

The San Francisco Department of Building Inspection announced a series of new building code guidelines clarifying adaptive reuse code provisions and exceptions for converting office-to-residential buildings. Developed in response to the Commercial to Residential Adaptive Reuse program established in July 2023, the guidelines aim to increase the viability of converting underutilized office buildings into housing by reducing regulatory barriers in specific zoning districts downtown. 

halfpage1

Most Popular Content

  1. 2021 Giants 400 Report
  2. Top 150 Architecture Firms for 2019
  3. 13 projects that represent the future of affordable housing
  4. Sagrada Familia completion date pushed back due to coronavirus
  5. Top 160 Architecture Firms 2021