Fort Bend County: corporate relocations and new factories pace development in Southwest Houston. (Houston, Texas)

Fort Bend County Corporate relocations and new factories pace development in far Southwest Houston

Fort Bend County's population grew a whopping 72 percent between 1980 and 1990 to stand at 225,421 at the beginning of the decade. With residential growth exploding, area real estate professionals predict Fort Bend's commercial growth is bound to follow suit.

"Fort Bend is as hot as it can be," says raw land broker Stan Creech of Stan Creech Properties. "And New Territory and Greatwood are taking up the slack created by the maturing of First Colony."

Increasing numbers of Houston businesses are moving out to the small communities and business parks of Fort Bend County to take advantage of lower rents and shorter commutes. And with the extensive reconstruction of the Southwest Freeway slated to continue for a few more years, companies will likely continue migrating down U.S. 59 to avoid pockets of heavy traffic congestion closer in to town.

WHAT'S NEW

Office. Office buildings in Fort Bend are filling up quickly, but no new speculative buildings are presently under construction.

Lee Goodwin, senior vice president of Cushman & Wakefield of Texas, says the rental rate for Class A space in Fort Bend has risen to $13.50 per square foot, up from about $10 a square foot during the economic downturn.

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