MetroNational revs up Houston office building plans after pandemic pause

A Houston developer is betting that the pandemic is in the rearview mirror.

MetroNational is resurrecting plans for a nine-story office building that’s been on the drawing board for years. The firm recently began construction west of downtown Houston on a 190,000-square-foot property in the Memorial City mixed-use development that was put on pause at the onset of the pandemic. Construction is expected to wrap up in the second quarter of 2023, the Houston Business Journal reported.

The Houston office market is showing signs of recovery after a two-year slump. In the first quarter, the metro ended an eight-quarter streak of falling office occupancy and recorded positive net absorption of more than 22,300 square feet, according to JLL. Vacancy was roughly 28 percent, and the quarter ended with almost 600,000 square feet under construction, 43 percent of which is pre-leased.

Kirksey Architecture is designing the project, which will have floor plates of just under 23,000 square feet and is dubbed 9753 Katy Freeway. Officials reported in 2019 that the construction cost would be about $10.5 million, according to filings with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation.

MetroNational has built the 300-acre Memorial City master-planned development over the past six decades, according to the Business Journal. The project spans nearly 10 million square feet of retail, office space, multifamily, hotels, restaurants, a medical center and green space.

[HBJ] — Kathryn Hardison

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