HOUSTON-The medical office sectorhere saw another quarter of growth in Q2, posting nearly 150,000square feet of positive net absorption. Total positive absorptionfor the year is now almost 300,000 square feet, and almost onemillion square feet in the past 18 months, according to a secondquarter report released recently by Grubb & Ellis.

Vacancy also fell during the quarter by 30 basis points to11.5%. Henry Hagendorf, VP with the company’s Healthcare PracticeGroup, tells GlobeSt.com that the success of the sector can beattributed to the massive residential growth in the suburbs. “Thecity has been growing in several directions, with hospital systemsthat have built in the past two years along major freeways. There’salso been a trend for a number of years toward new standalonebuildings such as surgical centers, taking services out of thehospitals,” he says.

Though there were new developments that came online by early2010, most of the space is already filled, Hagendorf says. Theproperties include 1140A Cypress Station, Kingwood ProfessionalPlaza and 1400 Creekway, for a total of 70,000 square feet.