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Thursday, Mar 28, 2024

Econowatch

WADE DANIELS Staff Reporter Office vacancy rates tightened everywhere in the San Fernando Valley in the second quarter of the year except the east Valley, where entertainment companies have hit the brakes on efforts to expand, real estate brokers said. The east Valley’s vacancy rate jumped to 13.8 percent in the second quarter compared to 10.4 percent in the first, according to figures from Grubb & Ellis Co. The east Valley, which includes the Burbank Media District, was perhaps the hottest office market in the county last year, with movie and television companies scrambling to find office space. But this phenomenon has slowed, said Wayne Saldana, vice president and sales manager at the Encino office of the Seeley Co., a Los Angeles-based real estate brokerage. “Entertainment companies have absorbed a lot of new space, and I think a lot of them are digesting what they have,” Saldana said. “This doesn’t necessarily point to slowdown in the market. It could easily pick back up in the third quarter.” One of the most dramatic drops in office vacancy took place in the Conejo Valley. The area, which includes cities in east Ventura County like Thousand Oaks, had an 11.8 percent vacancy rate in the second quarter compared to 14 percent in the first quarter of this year, according to Grubb & Ellis. Saldana said there continues to be a lot of leasing and purchasing activity in that area due to expansion of Valley companies that decide to relocate there. Continued improvements in the San Fernando Valley’s economy were cited as the reason for the decreasing vacancy rates in other Valley areas. The central Valley’s office vacancy rate was 12.4 percent in the second quarter, compared to 14 percent in the first. The west Valley saw its office vacancy rate decline to 9.5 percent in the second quarter from the previous quarter’s rate of 11.8 percent.

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