Houston Hurricane Impact Unknown

LAS VEGAS—Hurricane Harvey undeniably rocked Houston, Texas, this year. The category 4 hurricane dropped more than 60 inches of rain on the city and produced powerful floods. While the market is still recovering—and will be for some time—we sat down with Lee & Associates Houston office co-managing principals Chris Lewis and Mike Spears for an exclusive video interview at the annual Lee & Associates broker’s summit in Las Vegas.

Hurricane Harvey hit the Houston area in September, so the impact on the real estate market is unknown, according to Lewis and Spears. In the short-term, there has been an increase in temporary office leasing activity as a result of displacement from the floods, and companies with expiring leases leasing in the next year have signed early or earlier than expected for fears of rising rental rates. In the long-term, Lewis and Spears said that there is some question about how properties with severe flood damage will trade, and if flood damaged properties will be a deal breaker for investors will be a deal breaker. Development and redevelopment in the bayou area, which saw the majority of the flooding, may also see new restrictions for flooding. Overall, both Houston leaders expect the hurricane to have little impact on the commercial market.