Westside Office Vacancy Rate Dips in First Quarter of 1987

The Westside’s office vacancy rate decreased slightly to 11.6% in the first quarter of 1987, according to a new study by Grubb and Ellis Commercial Brokerage Services.

About 4 million square feet of office space was vacant out of a total of 34.3 million, according to John Carpenter, vice president and district manager of the firm’s Westside office. The vacancy rate was 12% at the end of the fourth quarter of 1986, he reported.

More than 400,000 square feet of space was leased in the first three months of 1987.

The Westside has one of the strongest high-rise office markets in the nation, especially in West Los Angeles, Brentwood and Century City, Carpenter said.

Several new projects are under construction in the Westside, including three high-rise buildings in Westwood totaling 590,561 square feet, the survey found. Another 500,000 square feet of office space will become available in Culver City and West Los Angeles by mid-1988, Carpenter said.

Some of the new buildings have been completely pre-leased during construction, he said. For example, all of the 186,000-square-foot Westwood Terrace and 90% of the 649,000-square-foot Fox Plaza have been pre-leased, the survey found.