Westside L.A. Vacancy Rate Declines for Commercial Space

West Los Angeles emerged as one of the nation’s healthiest commercial space markets in a Southern California survey by Grubb & Ellis, which showed that the Westside’s office vacancy rate dropped from 12% to 11% in the first three months of this year.

West Los Angeles was found to have a base of 26,858,000 square feet, of which 2,823,000 is vacant. The absorption rate (the net change in occupancy rates) for the first quarter was 498,000 square feet. A total of 4.5 million square feet of office space is under construction in that area, with 219,000 square feet pre-leased in the first quarter.

In other areas, a second consecutive drop in vacancies during the first quarter of 1986 was found in the growing downtown Los Angeles office market, from 17% to its present 15%. Vacancies amount to 3.4 million square feet in a base of 23 million and first-quarter absorption was 645,000 square feet.

Orange County vacancy rates for commercial office space fell from 23% at year’s end to 20% during the first quarter. The survey found 4.5 million square feet vacant in the county’s overall existing base of 23 million square feet, with absorption of 1.2 million square feet during the first quarter.

Highest vacancy rate in the Southland was found in San Diego, 27%, unchanged from year’s end. The existing base is 24,403,579 square feet with another 2,301,677 square feet under construction; the absorption rate averaged 548,236 square feet.