The Woodlands: Class A office market is booming in the forest Houston Business Journal - by Bret L. Strong

Fewer than 30 miles north of downtown Houston is the giant master-planned community of The Woodlands. Built out of 28,000 acres of forest land by oilman George P. Mitchell, the booming commercial center quietly grows and prospers.
With nearly 8 million square feet of commercial office space located in the area, The Woodlands Development Co. LP, developer of the nearly 35-year-old community, continues to closely plan and control the location, quality and supply of office space. Carefully crafted covenants and use restrictions keep the local Class A market on a tight leash.
Town Center
Town Center, the commercial area of The Woodlands, centered near Interstate 45 and The Woodlands Mall, was bolstered by the legislative creation in 1993 of the Town Center Improvement District. It has become the local economic development engine behind The Woodlands Waterway, Market Street, The Woodlands Mall, Town Green Park, Waterway Square, The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion and The Woodlands Waterway Marriott and Convention Center.
Town Center offers water taxis and waterway trolleys which operate along and around the entire area, linking the many office buildings to shopping, dining and other businesses. With all these amenities making the area increasingly attractive to employees and, therefore, their employers, the Class A commercial office market continues to be very hot and pricey.
Class A office space
Among all of this commercial development, there currently exists about 2.5 million square feet of Class A commercial office space in The Woodlands, with approximately 500,000 square feet currently under construction.
Of the currently available Class A space, nearly 97 percent is occupied, well above the average occupancy rate in the Houston market of 91 percent for similar space.
In 2006, The Woodlands Development Co. constructed and opened 21 Waterway Plaza, containing approximately 103,000 square feet of office space, after which the developer promptly leased the building to near capacity and then sold to a third-party investor.
The latest Class A commercial project soon to be completed in The Woodlands is the 24 Waterway Avenue building. Containing 268,000 square feet of Class A office space with 40,000 square feet of retail on the lower two levels of the building, it is located at the corner of Lake Robbins Drive and Waterway Avenue.
Positioned adjacent to Waterway Square and The Woodlands Waterway at the heart of the Town Center, the building is set to open early 2008. Approximately 32 percent of the office space is pre-leased and a specialty grocery and bakery is set to anchor the ground level retail.
The Woodlands Development Co. is already discussing plans for follow-up projects in the Class A arena along The Woodlands Waterway, including additional lodging accommodations to serve local businesses. For more information see : www.houstonrealtyadvisors.com or www.houstonrealtyadvisors.net