“As a leading U.S. solar company, SEG is proud to be among the first to respond to the call for domestic manufacturing by constructing a solar module factory in the U.S. The completion of the Houston plant marks a significant milestone for SEG and a major advancement in U.S. module manufacturing technology,” CEO Jim Wood said Aug. 8.
With more than 8 million square feet of industrial space under construction or planned for the Cy-Fair area, according to Caldwell Companies’ analysis of CoStar Group data, these projects are bringing thousands of jobs to the community.
The overview
Joel English, founder of northwest Houston-based Texas Commercial Real Estate Services, said he believes businesses are attracted to the Cy-Fair area because its economy is diverse, spanning industries from technology and medicine to manufacturing.
“We have a very broad economy, and other parts of the country do not share that. For years, we didn’t; it’s just evolved into that,” English said.
Additionally, English said he has seen the region’s cost of living, lack of state income tax and overall business environment attract companies relocating from California, among other states.
The population within Cy-Fair ISD’s boundaries grew about 25% from 2012 to 2022, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey 5-year estimates.
In that same time, the Grand Parkway’s extension through the community and Hwy. 290 improvements have increased connectivity in the region.
Office, retail and industrial development follows residential growth as the demand for services and the local workforce grows, English said.
On top of that, industrial demand has increased as more retailers have moved their businesses online, and have needed warehousing and distribution space.
“When you drive past what we still call a retail center, I jokingly tell people all the time it needs to be just called ‘services,’ because there’s restaurants, nail places, hair places—things you have to go to a location to do—but very little true retail these days,” English said.
By the numbersWhile industrial construction picked up in recent years, the office sector struggled during the COVID-19 pandemic. English said companies looking for 10,000 square feet of office space five years ago are now looking for about 4,000 square feet instead.
“A lot of the folks that had larger footprints for their office concept have downsized,” he said. “Very few of them have gone away from it entirely, but it’s just this interesting evolution of, ‘What does a particular type of business need?’”
Office occupancy in Cy-Fair was 77.9% in the second quarter of this year compared to industrial’s 89.1%, according to CoStar Group. Retail occupancy reached 96.9%, but it has not dipped below 94.5% in the last five years.
Rental rates rose by over 30% for Cy-Fair industrial facilities in the last five years, per CoStar Group, which English said shows the desirability in this sector.
Officials with Prologis logistics real estate firm said they’re planning over 5 million square feet of space at the Prologis Legacy Point industrial business park off Hwy. 290 and Fry Road. It will cater to retailers, manufacturing, distribution and energy companies, said Hans Brindley, senior vice president of marketing for Prologis Houston.
The project will bring at least 2,000-3,000 jobs to the community depending on tenants, Prologis officials estimate.
In the office sector, about 93% of buildings under construction or proposed in Cy-Fair are medical facilities, including the 120,000-square-foot Kelsey-Seybold Northwest Campus off Hwy. 290, CoStar Group data shows. Retail projects range from a 1,649-square-foot coffee shop to a 324,093-square-foot car dealership.
In an Aug. 16 news release, Gov. Greg Abbott’s office announced Texas job growth outpaced the nation in July, and 14.73 million Texans—a record-high number—are working, according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data.
At the same time, over 500,000 job listings were open, according to the Texas Workforce Commission. As more companies move to Cy-Fair, the local workforce is expected to continue to grow.
“Absolutely there are enough workers to fill [local] jobs, but people have to want to work,” said Leslie Martone, president of the Cy-Fair Houston Chamber of Commerce. “I believe that companies that will have a desirable place to work will be the key factor in keeping employees, such as good benefits, flexible work-life balance and a good working environment.”
