Westlake Area Office Vacancy Rates Drop in 2nd Quarter

Vacancy rates in multi-tenant office buildings in the Westlake Village area decreased in the second quarter of 1995 to a level of 12.87%, the area’s lowest rate since the construction boom of the 1980s, said Cathy Condon, office properties specialist for Ventura-based CB Commercial Real Estate Group Inc.

Condon said the Westlake area and the entire Conejo Valley have seen a steady migration of business from the San Fernando Valley and Los Angeles since the 1994 Northridge earthquake. In addition to the earthquake fear factor, she said, businesses are moving to the region because “there’s less congestion, an overall better way of life and, in many instances, better lease rates.”

Influx to Westlake Village has increased so significantly that it is almost to the point where more office buildings will need to be built to accommodate businesses looking to lease, Condon said.

“This is really the first time we’ve seen higher-end office space becoming very difficult to find, and this is the type of space that most of the migrating tenants are looking for,” she said. “It’s going to be interesting to see what happens in the next six to nine months.”

Condon said only two office buildings are under construction in the Conejo Valley, both in Thousand Oaks.

Elsewhere in Ventura County, second-quarter office vacancy rates increased slightly in Thousand Oaks, and more significantly in Camarillo, Oxnard and Ventura, she said.

“The coastal plain cities all showed an increase,” she said. “I think a lot of that had to do with the big question mark of Point Mugu. People were really reluctant to make expansion decisions.”

But with the announcement two weeks ago that the naval base would not be closed by the federal government, Condon expects more businesses to lease space in the coastal area.

“Things will certainly stabilize because people will be more confident,” she said.