Commercial Vacancy Rates Hit Low Point

Vacancy rates for commercial properties in Ventura County dropped in the first quarter of 1994, hitting some of the lowest numbers since the late 1980s, according to a report by a commercial real estate group released Friday.

Office space vacancies showed the biggest decrease countywide, from 24% in the first quarter of 1993 to 19.2% in the first quarter of 1994.

Much of that decrease was due to General Telephone Co. taking over the lease of the long-empty Chevron office building in Oxnard, said Charles Engel, a vice president with CB Commercial Real Estate Group, which published the report. But he said he expected the trend to continue.

“The outlook for the office-space market is very optimistic for the balance of 1994 and into 1995,” he said.

Earthquake relocation helped beef up occupancy figures for office space in east Ventura County, Engel said. Westlake Village, closest to the quake-damaged west San Fernando Valley, fared best, dropping to a 16.5% vacancy rate.

Industrial occupancy in east Ventura County also showed a sharp drop-off because of the earthquake, from 15% in the last quarter of 1993 to 13.5% in the first quarter this year. Three corporations--Packard Bell, NNB and Vivitar--that relocated from the Valley after January’s quake, have filled more than 320,000 square feet of formerly empty space.

But Mark Schniepp, director of the UCSB Economic Forecasting Group, said the drop seemed more related to the earthquake than to an improved economy. He said many businesses that relocated did so only temporarily, and will probably be required under previous leases to return when damages are repaired.

“There has been a progressive downward trend,” Schniepp said. “And that’s good, but still, we have to remember that in an absolute sense, these vacancy numbers are still quite high.”