Valley Office Vacancies Up Slightly in Quarter : Firm’s Survey Discloses That Leasing Activity for Commercial Space Continues to Be Steady

The vacancy rate for San Fernando Valley commercial office space edged up to 16% in the third quarter of this year, from 14% in the second quarter, but leasing activity remained steady, according to a survey by Grubb & Ellis Commercial Brokerage Services.

Space of the 223 buildings surveyed in the east, west and central sections of the San Fernando Valley and the Conejo Valley totaled 13,429,217 square feet.

Vacancy factors ranged from 11% in the central portion to 21% in the east and Conejo Valley areas, according to Robert Dalby, vice president and sales manager of the firm’s Sherman Oaks office.

“Despite the slight rise in vacancies, the strong leasing activity shows a market that appears to be quite healthy,” he said. “Like most other suburban office markets around the nation, the Valley is now at the top of its construction cycle.”

Total lease commitments during the third quarter reached 208,086 square feet, he said, adding that space under construction in the Valley has reached 2.9 million square feet. Of that total, 118,400 square feet has been pre-leased.

While the central portion had the lowest vacancy rate, it also had the lowest lease activity, with just 27,500 square feet committed to in existing buildings and only 8,500 square feet leased in buildings in construction, Dalby said.

In the entertainment industry-intensive eastern portion of the Valley--including Burbank and Universal City--653,069 square feet was available for lease on a base of 3,231,479 square feet, he said.

Leasing activity in existing buildings remained steady with 63,891 square feet occupied during the third quarter in the east Valley. Pre-lease activity in buildings under construction rose to 85,400 square feet, highest among all the submarkets.

The west Valley, including Warner Center, showed a vacancy factor of 16%, or 686,947 square feet of space available from an existing base of 4,217,983.

The Conejo Valley, the smallest submarket, had 269,000 square feet available from a base of 1.3 million square feet.

Vacancy rates totaled 13.2% at the end of 1984 and 14.9% in 1983 for the San Fernando Valley, including the Conejo Valley submarket, Dalby added.