Brokers Optimistic as Commercial Market Firms
The commercial and industrial real estate markets in Ventura County were relatively stable during the first half of the year, according to a study conducted by the Oxnard office of Grubb & Ellis Co.
In general, lease rates are strengthening and prospective tenants are being offered fewer concessions, the report said.
“We’re at a pivotal point in Ventura County’s commercial real estate market,” said Bruce Arden, district manager of the real estate firm. “With newer space for larger employers and industries scarce, we’re going to see some positive moves in the near future.”
He said some retail locations in the east county are in such high demand that developers are demolishing existing buildings to make room for new projects.
In the past, such techniques were used frequently in the San Fernando Valley and other parts of Los Angeles County but were considered too costly by Ventura County builders.
The county’s industrial vacancy rate increased from 7% to 7.1% in the second quarter, according to the report. Rick Heath, a Grubb & Ellis industrial property broker, credited the survival of the Point Mugu Naval Base with much of the market’s strength.
Heath said speculative development has reappeared in the county for the first time in several years. As an example, he cited a 70,000-square-foot industrial complex planned in Moorpark.
Construction hasn’t started, but the builder is well along in the permit stage, he noted.
Speculative projects are appearing in the office market, too, reported broker Steve Doll. He said two such projects are under construction in Thousand Oaks.
Doll predicted that office construction will rebound soon in the west county as well. “With declining vacancy rates, lease rates are rising, and speculative construction should follow.”
Another Grubb & Ellis broker, Bruce Boring, named Thousand Oaks and Westlake as the county’s hottest market for retail property. He said construction has barely started on a new center on Moorpark Road in Thousand Oaks, but that the center, which will include a Barnes & Noble bookstore, is already fully leased.
As further evidence of retail strength in Thousand Oaks, Boring cited the ongoing expansion of Janss Mall, which plans to add a Mervyn’s department store and a multiscreen theater.
In addition, he said Wal-Mart, which was rebuffed in its attempt to open in the east county, is considering a new effort to locate in Simi Valley.
He said a 50,000-square-foot Best Buy outlet will be the first tenant in the second phase of the Shopping at the Rose center in Oxnard.
Other promising retail projects cited by Boring include a proposed center anchored by a Super K [expanded K mart] in Ventura and a planned center in Camarillo to be anchored by a Target store.
