Office Vacancies in Valley at Lowest Level in Two Years

Office vacancy rates in the San Fernando Valley dropped to 16% in the second quarter, 5% below the comparable 1986 figure and the lowest level in two years, according to a survey by Grubb & Ellis Commercial Brokerage Services.

Vacant space declined to 2,598,049 square feet from a base of 16,153,522 square feet. Absorption levels--the amount of office space occupied from one quarter to the next--remained high, with one area--the Technology Corridor along the Ventura Freeway--posting a mid-year figure that surpassed all of last year’s totals, said Howe S. Foster, the firm’s Sherman Oaks office manager.

Space under construction totaled 1,759,638 square feet at the year’s midpoint, with the West Valley sub-market leading all others with 829,200 square feet. The East Valley reported 618,938 square feet, the Central Valley had 231,500 and the Technology Corridor had 80,000 square feet under construction, he said.