Westside Office Vacancy Rates Show Increase Over Last Year

Westside Los Angeles office vacancy rates increased to 17% in the third quarter of this year from 14% last year and--judging by the amount of construction under way--should continue to increase, according to data from Grubb & Ellis Commercial Brokerage Services.

As of Aug. 31, about 2.9 million square feet was vacant from the existing base of 96 buildings on the Westside, including Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, Century City, Mid-Wilshire, Westwood, Brentwood, Culver City and West Los Angeles.

Space under construction remains high, with 4.1 million square feet--only 266,153 square feet of which has been pre-leased, according to Gregg Gann, vice president and district manager of the firm’s Westside office.

Santa Monica and West Hollywood had the lowest vacancy rates with 6% and 12%, respectively. West Los Angeles reported a vacancy rate of 26%.

Ironically, West Los Angeles is also the Westside’s strongest leasing market, with 323,336 square feet occupied in new structures over the last year, Gann said.