REDNews January 2015 - Southeast Cover January 2015 | Page 26

REDNews

Jonathan Brinsden:
•  ffice leasing will feel the effects of falling oil pricO
es first
•  ome investors are already pulling back to wait
S
for good buying opportunities
•  ome oil companies are already starting to re-neS
gotiate their deals with the service companies,
putting pressure on their margins
•  he spec office space that is being built will probT
ably not enjoy any more large bloc leases, but
instead will have to lease up with smaller tenants,
so it will take longer to absorb the space
•  iring in west Houston will slow while hiring of
H
blue collar workers in east Houston will pick up,
since industries there do better with low costs of
their feedstocks: oil and gas
•  ouston is creating more WOW! factor as a nice
H
place to live, with infrastructure improvements
such as Buffalo Bayou Park
•
The need for connectivity
and mobility is becoming
more crucial in the band of
densification stretching from
the Energy Corridor to Westchase to Uptown to the CBD
• ational and internationN
al investor eyes will be on
Houston now with falling oil
prices to see how this new
“ third coast core market”
fares
•  ouston is in the “rising and
H
peaking” phase of the real
estate cycle, and we are
about to see if we really do
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have a diverse economy
•  e have not had a lot of speculative developW
ment this cycle-most developments have been preleased
•  e are at a point of equilibrium now so “let’s not
W
get ahead of our skis”
•  s for mixed-use developments, there is a very
A
delicate balance between “Stay, Play, Work, Live,
Shop”-all the elements need to complement one
another
•  e are starting construction of the 5 star Hotel
W
Alessandra early in 2015 in the CBD in Green
Street (former Pavillion)
Welcome Wilson, Jr.:
•  ouston has been getting a lot of “Best…” awards
H
in many categories

• here has been a construction boom in industriT
al build-to-suit, but supply-demand is still tightly in
balance
• here is less than 5% vacancy in the industrial
T
sector
•  .9 million SF of industrial space was absorbed
2
this year
• here is such a high demand for crane-served
T
space that none is currently available
•
Investment sales in industrial are capping out at
around 7
•  il prices have always moved like a yo-yo and
O
we will have to wait while they adjust again, since
there are geopolitical forces at work as well as
regular supply and demand issues
•  ouston is a good logistics hub for movement of
H
product, and it is getting better, especially
with the larger Panama Canal opening in
2016
• ots of rail is being
L
laid in Cedar Park
/ Baytown to handle this area’s transshipment needs
•
Industrial still looks
good for 2015, although land costs
have doubled in the
last three years