NAI Partners' recent industrial market report highlighted nearly a dozen big-box retailers looking for distribution deals greater than 500K SF. NAI's Michael Keegan said most are being driven by e-commerce needs, with a core requirement to be as close to UPS and FedEx shipping hubs as possible.

Continued demand for larger distribution facilities and a lack of developable industrial sites close to shipping hubs is driving counties like Waller to create incentive packages to attract developers.

Although the second quarter only saw 10K SF of positive absorption, nearly 5M SF of new leases were signed. Roughly 3.4M SF of those lease agreements will not begin occupancy until mid-2018.

There is 4.3M SF under construction in the Houston industrial market, with only one-fourth of that space available for lease.

The asking rent for all sectors dropped 2.1% from Q1 2017 to $6.84/SF at the end of the second quarter as pressure from the continued low oil prices influences rates.