HOUSTON-Ralph Tullier joined Stream Realty Partners' Houston office as managing director  in early 2012 to launch that firm's retail platform. In information sent to GlobeSt.com, Tullier notes the following trends from last year.

• On the grocery-anchored front, HEB and Kroger continued to expand in 2012, with Kroger gearing up after a pull-back during the recession. As previously reported on GlobeSt.com, specialty grocers (such as Aldi, Fresh Market and Sprouts) were also active.
• High-quality boxes have generally been backfilled with expanding or new concepts. But boxes with secondary locations or other obsolete fundamentals have remained vacant or been demised down to accommodate smaller more shallow users.
• Rental rates, overall, have remained stable during the past year.
• Hot spots in the region include The Woodlands (due to growth in and around the new Exxon campus), West Houston (the Energy Corridor) and the area inside of Loop 610.
• Interestingly enough, new retail corridors have popped up in locations including Yale and Interstate 10 (known as the "Heights"), Midtown and Westheimer, near Loop 610.

In looking into his crystal ball, Tullier predicts the following.

• Houston will continue to see strong job, housing and population growth in all areas of the city.  In general this will bode well for retailers.
• Several new tenants will enter the Houston trade area as its business climate has increasingly crept up the list of locations for tenants to expand into.
• Rental rate growth will be a factor over the next year or two, as tenants expand in the face of limited space.
• Look for more construction launches as anchor and junior tenants get more active and close in mixed-use projects get kicked off.
• With the ongoing expansion of the Grand Parkway in West and North Houston, look for dramatic changes in housing growth, general business and retail activity in the surrounding areas.