Dallas and Houston, the region's two largest markets, are suffering from a double whammy. Turmoil in the energy market and the telecom crash have created an enormous stockpile of vacant office space. According to Grubb & Ellis, Dallas has one of the nation's worst office vacancy rates — 25 percent for downtown and suburban office space. Still embarrassed by the Enron debacle, Houston isn't doing much better. Houston's job losses are moderating, but the energy market is oh-so-slow compared to its 1980s heyday. There's a major construction project underway in Lake Charles, La., the nation's largest receiving and shipping point for natural gas, where Trunkline LNG Co. is beginning a $166-million expansion. The region was riding high after it began diversifying into telecommunications in the '80s, but now it suffers with the rest of the nation waiting for that business segment to recover. Home building in Texas remains a bright spot, with the Dallas, Austin and Houston residential markets among the nation's leaders.
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