Low Vacancies Reported for Office, Industrial Space

Conejo Valley’s commercial and industrial real estate market is so strong that buildings entering the market are almost immediately leased or purchased, a Westlake brokerage reports.

In a quarterly survey that included every building in the area from the Calabasas grade to the Conejo grade in Camarillo, Westcord Westoaks Commercial Group found a vacancy rate well under 10% in all types of properties.

“Whenever you have a rate under 10%, you’re looking at a very healthy market,” said Tony Principe, Westcord’s executive vice president.

Demand for industrial space was strongest in the final quarter of 1995, with a vacancy rate of only 5.6%, Principe said. This was followed by the retail sector at 5.8% and office buildings at 8.1%.

Substantial new retail construction is underway or planned in the Conejo Valley, but much of it is already leased, Principe reported.

The survey found that Thousand Oaks had the lowest industrial vacancy rate at 3.4%. Agoura Hills had the highest rate at 6.5%

Thousand Oaks also had the lowest level of retail vacancies, with only 4.4% of its 3.8 million square feet of space available. But Newbury Park, which is part of Thousand Oaks, had the highest retail vacancy rate, 8%.

The tightest market for office space was in Calabasas, with a vacancy rate of 4.5%. Thousand Oaks had the highest office vacancy rate, 10.7%.