Facility Expansions by Southland Firms Up in 2004

The number of business facility expansions in Southern California grew 10.5% last year, a sign of continuing acceleration of the the region’s economy, according to a report to be released today by the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp.

Although expansions were up in the five-county region, total square footage was down, along with the value of leases and investments, the report said.

“The lack of big lease transactions shows that although optimistic, businesses are still somewhat cautious with their investments, waiting to see how durable the economic expansion will be,” the report said.

The growth was concentrated in the Inland Empire. Industrial building permits dropped in Los Angeles and Orange counties by 36.9% and 56.9%, respectively. But they soared in Riverside and San Bernardino counties, which logged increases of 79.3% and 77.9%, respectively.