Houston No. 1 metro for corporations

Boost from energy/chem sector

Wendy Natt, Mar 10, 09.

Houston is the top metropolitan area in the US for corporate facility projects, according to Site Selection magazine. The region made 179 new corporate real estate deals in 2008, pushing it far beyond its fourth place ranking in 2007. Dallas-Fort Worth followed at number two, and Chicago finished third.

Jeff Moseley, president and CEO of the Greater Houston Partnership, attributes Houston’s dramatic recent success - including its identification by the Bureau of Labor Statistics as the top job creator in the US - to factors like the relative affordability of a middle-class lifestyle and the comparatively lower cost of doing business, due to logistical factors, among others.

Site Selection magazine points to Houston’s ability to dominate the energy and petrochemical sectors and its importance as an international trade hub as the primary factors behind the city’s rise to number one.

(image credit: OneEighteen)