Houston’s office vacancy rate tops 20% for third consecutive year

One in five square feet of office space in Houston remained vacant at the end of 2019, marking the third straight year the city’s office market maintained a 20 percent vacancy rate.

A recent report by Houston-based NAI Partners found that the city’s overall year-to-date office vacancy rate sat at 21.5 percent in December, up from 21.1 percent this time last year.

Citywide leasing activity, including new leases and renewals, saw a slight uptick in 2019 over last year — going from 14.4 million…