Houston’s CBD Was The Most Expensive Texas Office Submarket In 2019

Houston’s central business district topped the list of most pricey Texas office submarkets in 2019, surpassing its Austin and Dallas counterparts, according to a new analysis.

Using Yardi Matrix data, CommercialCafé published a list of the 100 most expensive U.S. office submarkets in 2019 by sale price per square foot, using Yardi’s definition of submarkets as component areas of a larger office market.

Houston’s CBD was No. 47 on the list, with sales prices of $364.50 per SF in 2019.

The next most expensive office submarket in Texas was the Northwest submarket in Austin, which came in at No. 63, costing $313.92 per SF.

A total of seven office submarkets in Texas made the list. Though Houston’s CBD took the top spot, three of the other most expensive office submarkets were in Austin. Aside from the Northwest submarket, Austin's North and Southwest submarkets made the list at No. 76 and No. 84, respectively.

San Antonio's I-10 corridor submarket made the list at No. 74, and the Platinum Corridor North submarket in Dallas-Fort Worth ranked No. 90.

Houston is often thought of as a cheaper alternative to Austin, which has seen a massive boom in the last decade thanks to the tech industry.

But as the heart of the oil and gas industry in the U.S. and the home of the largest medical district in the country, Houston is beginning to lose its affordable edge.

The top 10 U.S. submarkets were in California, New York, Massachusetts and Washington state. The Mountain View-Shoreline office submarket in San Francisco’s Bay Area topped the list at an eye-watering $1,554.16 per SF.

On average, one square foot of office space in the U.S. cost $233 in 2019, according to the analysis.

The data only included sales of offices larger than 25K SF, and submarkets that registered at least three transactions.