REAL ESTATE : L.A. Developer Rates Brea as Most Active Retail, Office Center

Brea, one of the smallest cities in North Orange County, has been area’s most active retail and office center, according to a recent survey.

According to the survey, by Los Angeles developer Lowe Enterprises, construction of retail buildings in the city rose 20% in the last three years. Office construction rose 50%.

Even with construction of a million square feet of commercial space, occupancy rates have risen 22% from two years ago. Another 585,000 square feet of retail space is planned by 1991.

“Major businesses are attracted by the demographics of the area and the predominance of a white-collar work force,” said Robert F. McLoed of Lowe.

One fact that makes retailers happy: Median family income in Brea is estimated at $52,000, higher than the Orange County median of $46,000, itself a very respectable figure.

Lowe, of course, has a stake in all this. It is in developing the Marketplace at Brea, which recently opened a new Marshalls store of 33,000 square feet as anchor tenant. And Lowe has Brea Place, a 55-acre, mixed-use project on land leased from the Brea-Olinda School District. That project will include 1.2 million square feet of office space, two retail centers, as many as eight restaurants and a theater complex.

Construction just started on a 230-suite Embassy Suites Hotel and a 40,000-square-foot retail center, Embassy Court, both to open a year from now.