HOUSTON—Energy employment increased 1% year over year, but has yet to translate to recovery in the commercial property market, according to a recent report by JLL. Still, the office market offers relief and opportunity for tenants.

Specifically, 28.7% of the office space is occupied by energy tenants. The low oil price environment is increasing vacancy and resulting in record levels of sublease space. Also, energy leasing activity is up significantly from 2016 and 1.8 million square feet of sublease space will expire within 12 months, so total vacancy is expected to increase. As an example, midstream companies were largely unaffected by the downturn. These companies are capitalizing on the sublease space brought to market by upstream companies.

In another office report focusing on tech, JLL says the tech influence is an economic revolution and a complete shift in the economy toward innovation, technology, mobility and agility. The proof is in the industry's permeation into markets across the country, not just the major tech hubs. With that in mind, the tech industry continues to be the largest consumer of office space across the country, GlobeSt.com learns. Those firms are gobbling up talent and large blocks wherever possible.

Unlike the tech industry of the dot-com days, today's tech companies have many more viable location options to consider. Urbanization trends have lent nicely to the growth of tech clusters everywhere, as more of the workforce chases new markets for lifestyle and cost of living, and employers chase talent to those markets.

The investor community can now ride this tech wave in virtually any market but buyers should beware. Current and recent leasing trends may show attractive tech growth, but the promise of this rate of growth continuing 24 or 36 months from now is unlikely, given current and future employment conditions. With unemployment at historic low marks, the ability for a tech company (or any company) to grow the way it was during the previous 10 years is becoming increasingly more difficult. Because the tech industry has been one of the few industries responsible for organic occupancy growth across markets, it means that additional rent growth will become harder to achieve.

Investors should not be concerned in the long term, though. With tech permeating virtually every local economy, the outlook for many metro areas is a promising one.

The confluence of energy and tech provides an interesting juxtaposition for many investors within the metro. A recent example is Norfolk Tower, a 207,562-square-foot office building in the Greenway submarket, which was recently sold free and clear of debt.

The seller was TA Realty and the buyer was Nitya Capital. Nitya Capital plans to upgrade the building and rebrand it as Nitya Tower.

Norfolk Tower is situated on 2.36 acres at 2211 Norfolk St. at the intersection of Greenbriar Drive just north of Interstate 69. The property's location in the Greenway submarket places it in one of Houston's most sought-after infill submarkets, and provides a true live-work-play environment with accessibility to nearby retail, fine dining, luxury hotels and residential towers. The 11-story tower is 82.6% leased.

The Holliday Fenoglio Fowler LP team represented the seller and procured the buyer. Additionally, the HFF team procured floating-rate acquisition financing on the new owner's behalf.

The HFF investment advisory team representing the seller included senior managing director H. Dan Miller, senior director Martin Hogan and analyst Wesley Hightower. HFF's debt placement team representing the buyer included senior managing director Susan Hill and senior director Kelly Layne.

Investors should not be concerned in the long term, though. With tech permeating virtually every local economy, the outlook for many metro areas is a promising one.

The seller was TA Realty and the buyer was Nitya Capital. Nitya Capital plans to upgrade the building and rebrand it as Nitya Tower.

The Holliday Fenoglio Fowler LP team represented the seller and procured the buyer. Additionally, the HFF team procured floating-rate acquisition financing on the new owner's behalf.

Instant Insights /

Tech Influence is an Economic Revolution

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