Rice Village is Our New Home!

We've moved to the heart of the Rice Village!

Why did we leave downtown after 15 years? Because we found a great location!
Our new offices are centrally located in a pedestrian-friendly area with numerous amenities, including tempting cafés and restaurants.

Our new address is:
The Calibre Group, Inc.
2444 Times Boulevard, Suite 310
Houston, TX 77005

Our telephone and fax numbers remain:
T 713 739 7777
F 713 739 7778

Our doors are always open to you, so please drop by and see us!

Effects of Hurricane Katrina Felt in Houston and Nationwide

As pumps begin to drain floodwaters from New Orleans, our thoughts go out to the survivors and the families who have lost loved ones. Ripples from the natural disaster are being felt from coast to coast. Some effects are short term, such as gasoline prices. Others will kick in during the winter, such as expected natural gas shortages. Overall, economists expect Katrina will slow growth and boost inflation pressures in the coming quarter.

Companies with facilities in New Orleans are scrambling to find new work space, according to the Wall Street Journal. In nearby Baton Rouge, offices, warehouses and homes have disappeared from the market. One financial services company bought an entire 50-unit townhouse development for displaced employees, for example. Office buildings in other cities around New Orleans are reported to be nearly full, and companies are reaching out to Houston and Dallas. With its abundance of aggressively priced Class "A" space, downtown Houston appears to be the submarket of first choice for many New Orleans firms.

New Orleans ranks 50th among the top 54 office markets, just larger than Oklahoma City. While many of the high-rise office towers seem to have escaped serious damage, the challenge will be in locating employees once roads and power are restored. Before the hurricane, the New Orleans office market had languished for years with relatively high vacancy rates, and many oil companies had already moved their operations to Houston.

As for the hit on the national economy, the Wall Street Journal's panel of economists trimmed 0.4% off their predictions for third and fourth quarter growth, but that still leaves healthy growth of 4.2% and 3.6% in those quarters. In addition, the first quarter of 2006 should get a boost from all the reconstruction spending on the Gulf Coast. Only if gasoline reaches $4.06 a gallon for a sustained interval will the national economy be threatened with a serious long-term slowdown.

Know What Expenses Your Landlord Can Pass Through

In most commercial leases, it is clear that the tenant is billed for a share of building operating expenses, especially for common areas. These are called "pass through" expenses. It is also typically clear that when these operating expenses increase, the tenant's share also increases. What is sometimes unclear is what the landlord can or cannot pass through to the tenant.

Tenants must be aware that the goal of the pass throughs is to shift payment obligations from the landlord to the tenant. So it becomes vitally important to closely read the pass-through provisions of a lease. Expect these provisions to be broadly drafted in order to include as many expenses as possible. These can include management, repair, maintenance, partial replacement, cleaning, decorating, landscaping and possibly alteration costs.

Leases typically take one of two approaches to pass through expenses. The short form speaks in general terms of all costs associated with operating, managing, repairing or replacing portions of the building and thus allows practically anything that is reasonably appropriate for operating a building to be included. The longer approach spells out specifically everything that can be included in a pass through expense. A lease can also detail expenses that may not be passed through, such as: