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Businesses leased an additional 3.6 million square feet of Houston office space over the course of 2012. That included over 900,000 square feet during the final three months of the year. Louis Rosenthal is a senior vice president in the Houston office of Jones Lang LaSalle.

“To kind of put this in perspective — to show you the strength of our market here and of our local economy — that 916,000 square feet represents about 25% of the United States’ fourth quarter net absorption.”

Competition for limited space is driving up rents, particularly downtown and in West Houston. Rosenthal says new construction starts will eventually relieve such pressure. But most of the new space won’t be available for leasing until at least the end of the year.