Houston’s Greenway market continues to grow. Long recognized as a premier business and residential location, Greenway is located between the Central Business District and the Galleria/Uptown area, and takes its name from the Greenway Plaza office campus located in a 65-acre mixed use community along Southwest Freeway. Adjacent to the affluent River Oaks residential community, Greenways high-end demographic profile with above-average per capita incomes and property values is a primary factor attracting businesses to the area.

From renowned Houston restaurateur Tony Vallones decision to move Tonys from Post Oak Boulevard (in the Galleria) to Richmond/Timmons, to the Morgan Group and Trammell Crow Company choosing the Richmond/ Weslayan site for Greenway Commons (a mixed-use multifamily and retail project scheduled for completion in 2009), Greenway continues to attract upscale commercial development that further enhances the area.

At the center of this strong commercial environment is Greenways office submarket. Ranked as one of Houstons major office sectors, Greenway office submarket boasts an impressive Class A tenant roster forming a solid base of energy, financial and legal firms that under the current economic climate are more inclined to expand rather than reduce their office space needs. Current leasing activity in the submarket bears this out, with expansions among energy and energy-related firms topping the list of new leases signed in 2008.

In July, Transocean (formerly GlobalSantaFe) announced it was expanding its existing office lease by an additional 95,000 square feet in Four and Five Greenway Plaza, for a total of 300,000 square feet leased in the office complex. Parker Drillings 72,550-square foot office expansion and relocation to Five Greenway Plaza was announced in May 2008 and represented a huge win for the submarket. (Parker previously leased 55,000 square feet of office space in Houstons Energy Corridor submarket). Amerigroup Corporation leased 26,409 square feet at 3800 Buffalo Speedway in June 2008, while earlier in March 2008 Vanco Energy Company executed a lease renewal and expansion to a total of 36,546 square feet at Three Greenway Plaza. Opening the year, Buckeye GP Holdings leased 19,603 square feet at One Greenway Plaza in January 2008.

As Greenway market continues to grow, there is no doubt that commercial market activity in the office, multifamily and retail sector is the key to unlocking the areas potential ensuring its place among Houstons leading business centers.