Will Houston Office Building Sales Heat Up?

July 25, 2010

Houston Office Assets More Attractive to Institutional Grade Investors Houston has not always been a prime target market for many institutional real estate investors. In the past, the perception was that our economy was too dependent on the energy industry and too susceptible to economic volatility. However, today  the Houston office market is perceived as [...]

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Offshore Drilling and the Houston Office Market

July 23, 2010

The Impact of the Offshore Drilling Moratorium The Energy Industry is in a battle with the Obama Administration to resume deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. In Houston, there is a concern over what impact the drilling ban will have on our economy and among commercial real estate professionals, property owners and tenants, questions [...]

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The Build-to-Suit Lease Alternative

July 21, 2010

Why Consider a Build-to-Suit ? In order for a business to satisfy its office space requirements they have basically four options: Lease or sublease space; Acquire an existing building and renovate; Build and own your own facility; or A build-to-suit-to-lease. The Build to Suit to Lease The build-to-suit-to-lease is an alternative that allows the user/tenant [...]

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Houston Mid-Year 2010 Office Market Review

July 17, 2010

Market Conditions Continue Gradual Shift in the Office Tenant’s Favor Houston’s office market once again posted anemic market indicators at midyear, including negative net absorption, rising vacancy and decreasing rental rates for all property classes. Although there were no dramatic decreases in any one indicator, the consistent decline – and in some instances, consecutive quarterly [...]

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Parking Rates Defy Other Real Estate Market Segments

July 15, 2010

CBD Parking Rates Hold Firm Parking rates in North American central business districts (CBDs) held firm over the past twelve months, according to our recent Colliers International 10th Annual Parking Rate Survey, despite overall downward pressure on sale prices and leasing rates in other segments of the commercial real estate market. The median monthly parking [...]

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NASA: One Big Question Mark ?

July 12, 2010

NASA / Clear Lake Office Submarket Update In Houston, there has been a lot of focus on the B.P. disaster lately and uncertainty regarding its impact on jobs and the Houston economy as the offshore drilling industry is heavily concentrated in Houston. However, the B.P oil spill is not the only event creating uncertainty for [...]

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CRE and TV: The Awesome Power of a Blog

July 9, 2010

Last week I was contacted by KHOU Channel 11 News for an interview to discuss the B.P. disaster and its impact on the commercial real estate market, which came about through one of my recent blog posts “A Murky View for the Houston Office Market” . The real estate aspect of the B.P. disaster was [...]

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The Slow Death of Office Space is Exaggerated

July 8, 2010

I am a twenty year veteran of the commercial real estate Industry and I have spent my entire career specializing primarily in the office sector. Given the fact I have been around for awhile; when I started my career nobody was using a personal computer, owned a cell phone or had ever even heard of [...]

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In Case You Missed It

July 7, 2010

The Tenant Advisor’s Five Most Popular Blog Posts This Blog “The Tenant Advisor” is now ten months old. I always find it enlightening to review Google Analytics to see what are the most popular posts or subjects and to understand the types of information my readers find most interesting or useful.  Here are the top 5 [...]

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Renewing your Office Lease

July 3, 2010

Formulating a Renewal Strategy Building owners recognize corporate office tenants need a compelling reason to relocate their office facilities and opt to renew their lease approximately 70% of the time. “Tenants that congratulate themselves for renewing their lease simply to avoid the cost of relocation should put an ear to the wall and find out [...]

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Houston Continues to Show Signs of Recovery

July 1, 2010

The Greater Houston Partnership released its July Economic Report with the most notable highlight being that Houston added jobs for a fourth consecutive  month. The Houston Metropolitan Area added 20,200 jobs in May of which 10,800 of those jobs were from the private sector. Additional highlights from the report: The unemployment rate for Houston in [...]

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I Don’t Work for Free

June 30, 2010

The truth about leasing commissions One of the discussions many commercial real estate agents don’t like to have with their prospective clients revolves around the subject of fees or commissions. I have often seen brokers in an attempt to secure representatation agreements with tenants, that make the claim that their services are free. This is [...]

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Negotiating the Renewal Option

June 27, 2010

Most commercial office leases are long-term in nature, typically 5, 7 or 10 years in length, but also typically contain provisions for extending the lease beyond the initial term. A renewal clause in a real estate lease allows a tenant to decide whether or not to extend the lease once the initial lease term expires. [...]

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A Big GSA Lease in Houston

June 25, 2010

U.S. Attorney’s Office Relocating to Wells Fargo Plaza Those of in the commercial real estate industry read what seems like almost daily, a report of some significant General Services Administration (GSA) lease in the Washington D.C. metropolitan region. The GSA is the real estate arm of the federal government who has been a primary driver [...]

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Trends in Corporate Office Leasing

June 24, 2010

High Performance Buildings for High Performance Teams This video is from my Colliers International colleagues in Australia. The key elements to look for in a workplace to ensure a high performing team are outlined. These are global trends that not only apply to Australia but the United States and other markets throughout the world. Tweet

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Disclaimer: All blog entries on this site are the opinion of the author and not those of either Colliers Appelt Womack Inc. or Colliers International (collectively, "Colliers"). Colliers neither endorses, sponsors nor necessary shares the opinions of the author, regardless of whether any blog is posted by any employee, officer, agent, or representative of Colliers. Colliers has not authorized or verified any statement of fact made in a blog, and any such statement does not constitute a statement of fact by Colliers. Colliers is not responsible for the monitoring or filtering of any blog, nor does Colliers claim ownership or control over any blog content.