HOUSTON – (Realty News Report) – Occupancy has increased at Downtown Houston’s newest skyscraper, the 28-story Norton Rose Fulbright Tower.
The office tower, which opened in 2024, is now 70% leased.
Demand for space in new office buildings is high, but that success comes at the expense of older office space.
The newest lease at the Norton Rose Fulbright Tower, 1550 Lamar Street, comes as the Norton Rose law firm leased an additional floor of 20,000 SF in the building in the vibrant eastern edge of Downtown Houston. The law firm now leases 139,000 SF in the building, which is across the street from the Discovery Green park.
The 375,000-SF building, originally named 1550 On the Green, was developed by Skanska, which owns some adjacent downtown land that could be used for additional office tower construction.
“Norton Rose Fulbright has been an integral part of the vision for this building since its inception,” said Matt Damborsky, executive vice president for Skanska USA Commercial Development in Houston. “This law firm’s decision to expand within the tower speaks to the strength of the workplace environment we set out to create and reinforces the continued demand for thoughtfully designed, amenity-rich environments in Downtown Houston.”
Another new downtown building, the 47-story, 1 million-SF Texas Tower was completed by Hines in December 2021 has also experienced strong leasing. Today, it is 99% leased.
Across the Houston area, some 1 million SF of office space was leased in the second quarter, according to CBRE.
Downtown led all submarkets in deal volume, CBRE reported. Two significant leases were reported at the 811 Main building, where Seyfarth Shaw signed a 40,000 SF new lease and Two Sigma Solutions expanded its offices by 27,000 SF.
As the market for top-tier office space rises, a number of Houston developers are planning new, upscale office projects, said industry veteran Tim Relyea of Cushman & Wakefield. Since getting into the real estate business in 1978, Relyea has leased more than 60 million SF with a combined rental value of $47 billion.
Citywide, the Houston office market had positive absorption in the second quarter, according to JLL.
July 21, 2026, Realty News Report Copyright 2026
Photo: Courtesy Skanska
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