53.2 F
Laguna Hills
Thursday, Mar 28, 2024
-Advertisement-

Orange Count Office Market

The Orange County office market encompasses approximately 80.7 million square feet, including more than a half-million square feet of new space delivered in the first quarter. The average asking full-service-gross lease rate remained above the $2 threshold and strong absorption dropped the vacancy rate below 10% in the first quarter.

Vacancy Rates

Office vacancy rates continued to improve in the first quarter. The decreasing vacancy trend that began in the fourth quarter of 1999 continued and first-quarter vacancy stood at 9.70% for the overall Orange County market. The Greater Airport Area and South Orange County submarkets lead the way with the lowest vacancy rates: 8.95% and 9.13%, respectively. The North, Central and West Orange County submarkets had lower vacancy rates as well, although still above the 10% threshold.

Net Absorption

The first quarter was another strong quarter for absorption activity, following strong absorption at the end of 1999; 823,504 square feet of office space were absorbed in the beginning of this year. More than half of the absorption took place in the South Orange County submarket. North Orange County also experienced a large amount of positive absorption in the first quarter, due to the re-leasing of a significant amount of space vacated in the previous quarter.

Average Asking Lease Rates

The average asking lease rate for office space in Orange County started the year at $2.08. The markets with the lowest vacancy also reported asking rates above the county average. The first-quarter average lease rate for the Greater Airport Area stood at $2.33 and South Orange County posted an average rent of $2.20.

Construction

First-quarter completions totaled 556,499 square feet, an increase from the final quarter of 1999. Construction activity for the next few quarters is expected to remain strong as there are another 22 office projects currently under construction in the Orange County market totaling 3.5 million square feet, and 14.2 million square feet are in the planning pipeline.

Want more from the best local business newspaper in the country?

Sign-up for our FREE Daily eNews update to get the latest Orange County news delivered right to your inbox!

-Advertisement-

Featured Articles

-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-

Related Articles

-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-