Sublease Space at a 10-Year High in Houston

HOUSTON – Sublease office space availability has hit its highest level of availability in 10 years, as a number of major energy firms have put big blocks of excess space on the market, according to NAI Partners realty firm.

Some 1 million square feet of excess office space has been offered for sublease so far this year, with firms such as BP putting large blocks of its office space back on the market.

For Class A and B space combined, Houston has 5.6 million square feet of sublease space available, up 21 percent over a year ago, NAI Partners reported.

“We estimate that, of those office subleases over 10,000 sq. ft., 65 percent are related to Houston’s energy sector, thereby suggesting a key effect of the decline in oil prices on current subleasing rates,” NAI said in its Data InSight report.