Houston Office Figures - Q1 2026

Houston entered the new year with the delivery of three office buildings. In a market where new construction remains virtually non-existent, 483,000 sq. ft. was added to the City’s Class A office product. City Centre Six completed in Katy Freeway at 91.3% leased, Port Houston Headquarters completed in East at 100% leased, and Castle Biosciences completed in Greater Pearland at 50% leased. The strong pre-leasing for new construction reinforces the continued trend of tenants seeking higher quality space.

Although in the red for the second quarter in a row, absorption improved from Q4 2025. Move-outs were spread evenly between Class A and B product. By far the largest tenant office vacation was NRG’s 479,000 sq. ft. move-out of 910 Louisiana, offset slightly by its 290,000 sq. ft. occupancy at 3 Houston Center. Vacancy tightened this quarter despite negative net absorption, as 1600 Smith – a fully vacant 1.1 million sq. ft. building - was removed from inventory due to its owner user purchase.

Bifurcation between Class A and B properties continues to widen. Vacancy rates hit their largest delta to date with 3.2% basis points between the two Class segments, and 96% of leases signed over 10,000 sq. ft. this quarter took place in Class A properties. This trend is exacerbated in Trophy buildings. Within the CBD, Trophy vacancy is 4.4%, 24.1% basis points below the submarket average of 28.5%.