COUNTYWIDE : Sales of Office Space on Rise

Unexpectedly strong sales of industrial and office space have perked up Ventura County’s real estate market, raising hope that the sagging construction industry may rebound and pull the economy along with it.

Three major transactions in the Conejo Valley and Simi Valley sparked the turnaround in the first quarter of 1993, according to a report released Tuesday by Grubb & Ellis Co. brokers.

Bugle Boy leased a new retail center in Simi Valley, Blue Cross rented 106,000 square feet in Newbury Park and Dole expanded its operations in Westlake Village during the first three months of the year. As a result, the overall industrial vacancy rate dropped to 12.5%, down from 14.7% for the previous quarter.

Office vacancy rates have also fallen steadily since early 1991, bottoming out at 24.2% last quarter.

In a trend that appears to be gaining momentum, several corporations rented less-expensive industrial space for their offices, rather than moving into higher-price commercial space, brokers said.

Incentives including several months of free rent, improvements to the building and flexible leases helped boost the real estate market by luring new tenants to the area and persuading businesses to expand, analysts said.

“Real estate has always been an integral part of the Ventura County economy, so as vacancy rates drop, we hope there will be a big rebound,” said Eric Voulgaris, an industrial properties specialist with Grubb & Ellis. “We’ll be positioned to come out of this recession with a large crop of businesses.”

The Grubb & Ellis report lumps Westlake Village in with Ventura County, although the city lies in Los Angeles County.