HOUSTON (Houston Business Journal) – Houston’s industrial market had a third-quarter overall vacancy rate of 7.75 percent and posted a year-to-date negative absorption of 994,000 sf, according to Grubb & Ellis.
The “northwest far” submarket lost the most in the third quarter, with a total of 618,000 sf vacated by Academy Sports & Outdoors at 8760 Clay Rd. and Bison Building Materials at 7611 Railhead.
With 1.5 million sf of industrial buildings under construction, 1.1 million of which are warehouse-distribution properties, Grubb & Ellis expects the vacancy rate to continue rising.
Asking rates for industrial space are currently $5.13 per sf, down 20 cents from the second quarter.
Houston’s commercial real estate market had 381,000 sf of negative absorption in third quarter 2009.