To be sure, when compared to historical performance and product types, the Houston industrial is suffering, says Robert C. Kramp, the firm's regional manager of client services. Kramp, who shuffles among the state's metropolises, tells GlobeSt.com that Austin and Dallas have suffered tremendously from tech and telecom fallouts. Houston's industrial vacancy is 8.2%, by far "the lowest of any major metro area statewide," he reported in the quarterly wrap-up.
Overall, Houston absorbed 652,353 sf. The bottom line differs from other brokerage houses' calculations, but Kramp says his numbers reflect only physical occupancy not signed leases. The best performers for the first quarter were the Southeast Middle, Northwest Far, South Far and North Far submarkets.
The good news comes despite two million sf of new product delivering in the quarter. Equally good news lies in the prediction that second quarter deliveries won't be as hefty. "The construction pipeline is presently 43% lower than this period last year with an expected 3.2 million sf to be delivered throughout 2002," he says. And what does start to come out of the ground, Kramp says, most likely will be build-to-suits.
According to Kramp, the sector's windfall may be the proposed 450,000 sf of air cargo space at Bush Intercontinental Airport and the Bayport Terminal expansion, development that's projected to bring an economic impact of $1 billion.
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