6 steps to successfully sublease your Houston office space

What does the recent tsunami of energy companies downsizing have to do with tenants in need of office space in Houston? Everything. Houston’s office market has not been this dysfunctional since the mid-1980s. Nominally 23 percent vacant, I believe the market is actually closer to 30 percent vacant. Companies with leases expiring on the horizon…

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10 things every office tenant should be doing after Harvey

This article by Jay Wall first appeared in the Houston Business Journal. After the historic flooding from Hurricane Harvey, many of us spent so much energy dealing with the personal effects of the storm that we don’t even want to think about its implications for our business. That’s a huge mistake. While it isn’t especially…

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Leasing broker can help tenant negotiate the best deal

This article by Jay Wall originally appeared in the Houston Business Journal, July 30, 1999 As the muggy summer heat over­takes Texas and the rumble of thun­derstorms echoes, Houstonians begin to daydream about those cooler days of December, the holiday season and ski trips to Colorado. It would be a safe bet to assume that…

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Choose office leasing broker for experience, reputation

This article by Jay Wall originally appeared in the Houston Business Journal, November 28, 1999. Selecting a broker to assist with office leasing details and negotiations is a delicate and sensitive task — somewhat like choosing a dentist, except there are no pain killers to protect the prospective tenant from an inept broker. Basically, the…

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How to get the best deal subleasing in Houston right now

There are more than 2 million square feet of sublease space currently available in Class A Houston buildings. And the weather prediction for the Houston office market is there is a tsunami of more coming. Energy service companies continue to cut employees and expenditures, and will continue to add to the surplus of space. This…

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Op-ed: Don’t bet on oil prices coming back anytime soon

No matter what the economic pundits tell us about our economy having become diversified, if you live in Houston, you’re in the oil business. The past six months have seen oil prices plummet. In response, oil companies have slashed their capital spending by more than 40 percent, sold noncore assets, frozen new hires, reduced salaries,…

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Houston’s office space bubble is about to burst

Houston has more than 17 million square feet of new office space currently under construction, but that trend is about to end Much of it is of single-tenant campuses — like Irving, Texas-based Exxon Mobil corp. (NYSE: XOM) and Hous ton-based ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) — and are often tenant-owned, and it seems as though many…

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Houston’s energy-dominated office market in for a reset

In response to the Saudi-driven collapse of energy prices, Houston energy companies are drastically reducing their exploration and production capacity, cutting capital projects by 30 percent or more, which will have a big impact on Houston’s office real estate market. Most important to our conversation, they are dramatically reducing head counts. Houston-based Halliburton Co. (NYSE:…

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U.S. energy policy is ‘willfully malevolent’

Many think the United States has long lacked a coherent energy strategy. Recent events have shown that our current federal energy policy is neither, as many conservative pundits allege, “feckless,” nor, as many liberal pundits claim, “enlightened.” It is rather willfully malevolent. But hope, as they say, springs eternal. It is painfully transparent that, until…

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Perfect economic storm brewing in Houston, nation

I am afraid, sincerely petrified, for my country, and, no, I’m not channeling Glenn Beck. My business, tenant representation, is good. There’s money in the bank. My accounts receivable are current. My retirement account has almost recovered from its 2007 lows. We refinanced our house with a conventional 4.25 percent 15-year loan. Nevertheless, I fear…

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