Valley-Area Office Vacancy Rate Lowest in Southland

The San Fernando and Santa Clarita valleys continue to have the lowest office vacancy rate of any major market area in Southern California, according to a report by the real estate brokerage firm Grubb & Ellis.

For all of 1995, the office vacancy rate in the San Fernando and Santa Clarita valleys was 13.3%, the report says. That compares with an 18.5% vacancy rate for Los Angeles County and a 17.8% rate for all of Southern California.

Grubb & Ellis found that in 1995 the Valley-area office market finally recovered from the Northridge earthquake, and that rebounding economic conditions took over. Leading the recovery have been entertainment firms, which pressed for more space in the East Valley, where the vacancy rate for top-market buildings is less than 2%, the report says.

That trend will continue, Grubb & Ellis added, predicting that the West Valley--which has had a higher vacancy rate because of one partially empty building, Warner Center Plaza III--would also start running short of office space this year. As a result, lease rates are expected to climb 5% to 10% in the year.