Houston Office Market Report

Local employer retainment underpinning vacancy. At a time when space demand tends to skew toward smaller floorplans, Houston has the ability to attract and conserve multiple 100,000-square-foot leases each year from both domestic and international firms. Petroleum products producer LyondellBasell is upsizing their headquarters into a 318,000-square-foot space in Uptown, while Plains All American Pipeline is renewing their 260,000-square-foot lease downtown, committing to an 11-year term. Demand within the CBD shifted course midway through 2024 after declining for much of the past four years. Numerous large-scale move-ins within the urban core during 2025 may accelerate this local improvement. Meanwhile, suburban submarkets like Katy Freeway, East Fort Bend-Sugar Land and West Loop saw robust vacancy contractions last year, with the latter noting a 560-basis-point drop. Katy-Grand Parkway West entered 2025 with 7.6 percent vacancy following a 440-basis-point contraction. These areas’ dense population of college-educated professionals should continue to attract companies, aiding future demand for office space.