Different picture for Burbank, Glendale office vacancies

A rush of media company moves to Burbank has pushed the city’s office vacancy rate to historic lows, but the success has yet to spread to Glendale, according to recent real estate figures.

Burbank’s vacancy rate for office space has declined nearly 6% in the last year, from 19% to 13.2%, according to Grubb & Ellis Real Estate Services. Buoyed by growth in the entertainment sector, the city saw a 2.4% decline in its vacancy rate in the third quarter of 2011 alone.

The vacancy rate in Glendale, meanwhile, is 22.2%, slightly better than the 23% rate a year ago. Agents say Glendale, traditionally popular among financial and insurance firms, continues to lag because those industries are still recovering from recession-driven layoffs and restructuring.

Burbank is returning to historically low vacancy figures as KCET and other media companies move in, filling space built just as the recession was taking hold. KCET has leased two floors at The Pointe, a 14-story glass building adjacent to NBC’s Burbank campus that has sat nearly empty since it was completed in 2009.

-- Bill Kisliuk, Times Community News

Twitter: @bkisliuk

Photo: Aerial view looking west over Glendale toward Los Angeles and Burbank. Credit: Tim Berger / Staff Photographer